t-9 



THE 



AMATEUR'S HANDBOOI 

OF 

PRACTICAL INFORMATION 

FOR THE WORKSHOP AND THE LABORATORY, 

CONTAINING CLEAR AND FULL DIRECTIONS FOR 1 

Bronzing, Lacquering, Polishing Metal, Staining and 
Polishing Wood, Soldering, Brazing, Working Steel, 
Tempering Tools, Case - hardening. Cutting and 
Working Glass, Varnishing, Silvering, Gilding, Pre- 
paring Skins, Waterproofing, Making Alloys, Fusible 
Metals, Freezing Mixtures, Polishing Powders, Signal 
Lights, Harmless Colored Fires for Tableaux, Catgut, 
Cements, Glues, &e., <fi:e. 

SECOND EDITION.— GREATLY ENLARGED. 

NEW YORK: 
THE INDUSTRIAL PUBLICATION CO. 

1879. 

j^^ A Copy of this book^%vill be sent to any Address post-paid on receipt 
of x^ one-cent stamps. Industrial Pub. Co. ^ 176 Broad-way^ N. V. 

Copyright secured, 1878. 



THE 

AI 
ISSUED 

It is chara( 
They are not 
seeing them ( 
to experimei 
chests, turni 
engines, mic 
ever, the yoi 
paratus aftei 
excellent te3 
ing teacher, 
live journal, 
our intentio] 
of knowledg 
"How." T] 
directions f( 
simple and 
mechanical} 

The scope 
spection of i 
pae e, than f 
which we "w 

COBRESPO: 

munication wim 




^ntist; 

nateurs. 



(liss T ^-Q 



Boole 



.£^_v_ 



511 ts per year. 

jO be DoiNft something. 

done, or even with 
per words, they want 
puog up for small tool 
lesraphs, model stean^ 
cases out of ten, how- 
:U60 his tools or ap- 
iarge number of very^ 
hat is wanted is a liv* 
p rext best thing is a^ 
mpting this it Is not 
tions. In these days 

as necessary as the 
ear and easily followed 
r operations, as well as 
7olved in the various 
Skke to describe, 
iderstood from an in- 
Dund on a subsequent 
^ever, three feature* to 



ice our readers in com- 
secure for every one 
just such aid as may be required for any special work on hsnd. 

Exchanges. — An exchane'e column, like that which has been such a marked! 
S'iiccesBin the Journil of Microscopy, will he opened in the Young SciENnsT. 
Yearly subscribers who may wish to exchange tools, apparatus, boots, or the 
products of their skill, can state what they have to offer and what they want, 
without charge. Buying and se.ling must, of course, be carried on in the adver- 
tising columns. 

Illustration s.^The journal will make no claim s to the character of a ** pic- 
ture book,'' but wherever engravings are needed to make the descriptions clear 
they will be furuished. Some of the engravings which have already appeared in 
our pages are as fine as anything to be found in the most expensive journals. 

Si3eoi«i<l 3>arotioo- 

As our journal is too small and too low-priced to claim the attention of news 
dealers, we are compelled to rely almost wholly upon subscriptions sentdirectly 
to this office. As many persons would no doubt like to examine a few numbers 
beforebecomingregularsubsoribtrs, we will send four current numbers as a 
trial trip f . r 

FIFTEEN CENTS. 



OILiXT3BS- 

Where three or more subscribe together for the journal, we offer the foUowiDg 
liberal terms: 

3 copies for $1.25 

6 *' " 2.00 

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Advertisements, 30 cents per line. 

As postal currency has nearly disappeared from circulation, we receive post- 
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Postal orders are, however, much safer and more convenient. To avoid delay 
and mistakes address all communications to '* The Young Scientist, Box4875» 
New York," and make all checks and orders payable to John Phin. 



WHAT PEOPLE SAY OF US. 

In a letter to the Editor, Oliver Wendel Holmes, the genial "Autocrat 
of the Breakfast Table," says: *'I am much pleased with the Young >. 
Scientist. It makes me want to be a boy again.'* j 

*' It is a little publication, calculated to call out and educate all the/ 
latent ingenuity and thirst for knowledge which the youthful mind pos- 
sesses, and we hope it will win its way into every household in the land."-r 
[Scientific Press. 

"We have never seen a periodical, designed for youth, which came 
nearer to our ideal of what such a journal should be."— [Canadian Phar- 
maceutical Journal. 

"TheYotJNG SciENnsT is one of the choicest publications for juvenile 
minds in this country. Every page treats on subjects of importance to 
young and old, portrayed in a clearly comprehensive manner, which at 
once interests the young idea in its careful perusal."— [Lapeer Clarion. 

"It seems to fill the bill."— [Newport Daily News. 

"It is pleasing to note that its youthful subscribers will not be misled 
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will not be received at any price. The Young Scientist is doing good 
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and Trade Review. 

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hints that will instruct and amuse the young folks."— [Industrial School 
Advocate. 

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Chronicle. 

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[Ottawa Journal. » 

'" We can safely recommend this magazine as one of the very best 
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"This journal occupies a new field, and is needed to put the minds of 
our youth on the right track to secure a correct understanding of the 
nature of things."— [Wayland Press. 

"It is ably edited by John Phin, who will make a large place in the 
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success in the field will be equal to the article furnished— first best." — 
[Sunset Chimes. 

" The articles are Written in a popular, readable style, and profusely 
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"The Young Scientist is a handsome monthly magazine, each numbe. 
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"It is a journal which should be in the hands of both young and old, 
and is a great benefit to the young scientist as well as the advanced pro- 
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holds."— [The Iron Home. 

"This publication is a new launch, an^ it is very gratifying to witness 
the ableness which pervades its pages."— Amherst Free Press. 



THE 



AMATEUR'S HANDBOOI 

\ 

OF 

PRACTICAL INFORMATION 
FOR THE WORKSHOP AND THE LABORATORY, 

CONTAINING CLEAR AND FULL DIRECTIONS FOR 

Bronzing, Lacquering, Polishing Metal, Staining and: 
Polishing Wood, Solderingj Brazing, Working Steel, 
Tempering Tools, Case-hardening, Cutting and 
^TV^orking Glass, Varnishing, Silvering, Gilding, Pre- 
paring Skins, Waterproofing, Making Alloys, Fusible 
Metals, Freezing Mixtures, Polishing Powders, Signal 
Lights, Harmless Colored Fires for Tableaux, Catgut, 
Cements, Glues, <Sce., c&e. 

SECOND EDITION. -GREATLY ENLARGED. 

NEW YORK: \.\ 

THE INDUSTRIAL PUBLICATION CO. 

1879. 

2^^ A Copy of this book will he sent to any Address post-paid on receipt 
of \^ one-cent stamps, Indtistrial Pub, Co.^ 176 Broadzvay^ N. V. 

Copyright secured, 1878. 



1 4-^0- 



PEEFAOE TO FIRST EDITION. 

It is a fact well known to the editors of scientific and 
technical journals, that there are a series of questions to 
which answers are continually desired by new subscribers, 
no matter how often these questions may have been previ- 
ously discussed. To give a reply to every one, in the col- 
umns of the journal, would be an injustice to other readers ; 
to reply to each by letter would be an endless task, and to 
ignore them entirely would be inadmissible. Fortunately 
the majority of these questions may be fully and thoroughly 
answered once for all in a few pages of type, and this is the 
end and aim of the present work, which has been pub- 
lished at a price which places it within the reach of all. 

The utmost care has been taken to give none but trust- 
worthy directions and recipes. Most persons who have oc- 
casion to consult an ordinary book of recipes must be pain- 
fully aware of the fact that accuracy seems to be the last 
quality sought for by the compilers and indeed by most of 
those who contribute recipes to our technical journals.' 
With them complexity is in more favor than efficiency, and 
we therefore see long lists of ingredients strung out one 
.ifter the other, most of them being useless and some being 
even injurious. All this we have tried to avoid, and we feel 
confident that the amateur and those whose skill and ex- 
perience is not very great will find here an efficient guide. 

New York, October, 1878. 



PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION. 

That this little book supplied a real want has been very 
well shown by the rapidity with which the first edition, 
though a large one, has been sold ofi". In this edition we 
have given a good deal of new matter and it is hoped that 
in its extended form it will be still more acceptable to those 
who desire information of the kind which it contains. 

Editor Young Scientist. 

New York, February, 1879. 



COl^rTENTS. 



PAQB 

Alloys. — Alloy for Filling Holes in Iron. — Aluminium 
Silver. —Amalgam for Silvering the Insides of Glass 
Globes, etc. — Amalgam for Electrical Machines. — 
Copper Amalgam. — Babbitt Metal for Lining Boxes. 

— Fusible Alloys. — Pewter. — ^Type Metal 7 

Brazing and Soldering 9 

Bronzing. — Dark Bronze for Brass Instruments. — Bed 

Bronze for ditto. — Bright Bronze. — Antique Bronze. 10 
Browning Gun Barrels. — Process of Browning. — 

Varnish for Browned Barrels „ o 11 

Case-Hardening.— Deep Process. — Surface Process ... 12 
Cements. — Aquarium Cement. — Armenian Cement. — 
Buckland's Cement for Labels. — Cement for Glass, 
Earthenware, etc. — Cement for Kerosene Lamps. — 
Cement for attaching Leather to Metal. — Cement for 
Leather Belting. — Cement for attaching Metal to 
Glass. — Cementing Labels to Metal. — Cheese Ce- 
ment for Mending China, etc. — Chinese Cement 
{shio Had). — Chinese Cement. — Faraday's Cement, — 
Electrical Cement. — Glue. — Iron Cement. — Cast 
Iron Cement. — Japanese Cement. — Liquid Glue. — 
Mouth Glue. — Mucilage for Labels. — Paris Cement 
for Mending Shells, etc. — Paste. — Sorel's Cement.— 
Transparent Cement for Glass. — Turner's Cement. 

— Wollaston's Cement 18 

Liquid for Desilvering < 19 

Etching Liquid for Steel 19 

Etching on Glass 19 

Gilding. — Gilding on Leather, Cloth, etc. — Gilding 

Wood.— Gilding Metals 20 

Glass Working. — Cutting Glass. — Drilling Holes in 
Glass. — Turning Glass in the Lathe. — To Kemove 

Tight Glass Stoppers, " 20 

Hardening Copper, Brass, etc 2;^ 



CONTENTS. 

Inks. — Black Ink. — Runge's Black Ink.— Blue Ink. — 
Carmine Ink. — Red Ink. — Marking Ink for Linen. — 
Gold Ink. — Silver Ink. — Sympathetic or Secret Ink 
for writing privately on Postal Cards, Letters, etc. 23 

Lacquer. — Process for Lacquering. — Deep Gold Lac- 
quer. — Bright Gold Lacquer. — Pale Gold Lacquer. 
— Lacquer used by A. Ross 24 

Lubricators. — Fine Lubricating Oil. — Booth's Axle 

Grease. — Anti-Attrition , . . 26 

Polishing Metals 27 

Polishing Wood 29 

Silvering. — Process for Silvering.— Silvering Powder. 

— Novargent. — Silvering Amalgam 30 

Skins, Tanning and Curing. — Curing Fur Skins. — 
To Prepare Sheep Skins for Mats. — Skins of Rab- 
bits and other Small Animals 31 

Staining Wood. — Processes for Staining and Improv- 
ing Wood. — Mahogany. — Ebonizing Wood. — Black 
Walnut Stain. — Brown Stain 31 

Steel, Working and Tempering. — Forging Steel. — 
To Restore Burnt Cast Steel. — Hardening and Tem- 
pering Steel 34 

Varnishes. — White Spirit Vaa-nish. — Shellac Varnish. 

— Turpentine Varnish. — Varnish for Violins. — 
White, Hard Varnish. — White Varnish for Paper. 

— Mastic Varnish. — Map Varnisl^. — -Varnish for 
Bright Iron Work. — Black Varnish for Iron 36 

WATERrROOPiNG. — General Principles. — To Render 
Leather Waterproof. — Waterproof Canvas for Cov- 
ering Carts, etc. — To Make Sail Cloth Impervious 
to Water. — Waterproofing Cloth, etc 37 



CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Fkeezing Mixtures. — Without Ice. — With Ice or Snow 40 

Paper. — Tracing Paper. — Waxed Paper 41 

Polishing Powders. — Chalk or Whiting. — Prepared 
Chalk. — Crocus or Rouge. — Andrew Ross's Mode of 
Preparing Do. — Lord Ross's Mode of Preparing Do. 
— Oilstone Powder. — Pumice-Stone Powder. — ^Putty 
Powder. — Andrew Ross's Method of Preparing 
Putty Powder 42 

Signal and Colored Lights. — Recipes from U. S. 
Ordnance Manual. — Lights for Indoor Illumination. 
— Ghosts, Demons, Spectres, Murderers, etc. — Cau- 
tion 48 

Miscellaneous Recipes. — To Remove Blue Color from 
Steel or Iron. — Size for Improving poor Drawing 
Paper. — To Fix Pencil Marks so they will not rub 
out. — Cure for Burns. — Care of Looking-glasses. — 
Secret of Laundry Gloss. — Kalsomine, Materials 
and Process for. — To Stain Dried Grass. — Amalga- 
mating Zincs for Galvanic Batteries. — Amber, to 
Unite Broken Pieces. — Arsenical Preservative Pow- 
der. — Arsenical Soap. — Black Varnish for Cast Iron. 
— Black Varnish for Optical Work. — To make Cat- 
gut Cords. — Coral Artificial. — To Render Dresses 
Fire Proof. — Glass Paper. — Do. Water-proof. — To 
Powder Glass Easily. — Imitation Ground Glass. — 
Packing Glass Ware. — Javelle Water. — Jewelry- 
Cleaning. — Pillows for the Sick Room. — Sieves for 
the Laboratory. — Silvering Glass Mirrors for Opti- 
I cal Purposes. — To Bleach W^ax. — To Pulverize 
\ Zinc 52 



AMATEUE^S HAI^DBOOK 



Alloys. 

Alloy for filling holes in Iron. — Lead, 9 ; antimony, 2 ; bls- 
mutli, 1. This alloy expands in cooling, so that when a hole 
is filled with the melted alloy, the plug is not loose when it 
is cold. 

Aluminium Silver. — Copper, 70 ; nickel, 33 ; aluminum, 7. 
Has a beautiful color and takes a high polish. 

Amalgam for Silvering the insides of Globes, etc. — 1. Lead, 
2oz ; tin, 2oz ; bismuth, 2oz ; mercury, 4oz.. Melt the first 
three and add the mercury. The glass being well cleaned, 
is carefully warmed and the melted amalgam is poured in 
and the vessel turned round' until all parts are coated. At a 
certain temperature this amalgam adheres readily to glass. 

2. Bismuth, 8 ; lead, 5 ; tin, 3 ; mercury, 8. Use as 
directed for No. 1. 

Amalgam for Electrical Machines. — 1. Tin, loz ; zinc, 
loz ; mercury, 2oz. 

2. Boettger's. Zinc, 2oz; mercury, loz. At a certain 
temperature (easily found by experiment) it powders readily 
and should be kept in a tightly corked bottle. Said to be 
very good. 

Copper Amalgam. — Dissolve 3oz. sulphate of copper in 
water and add loz. sulphuric acid Hang clean iron scraps 
in the solution until the copper has fallen down in fine pow- 
der. Wash this powder, and for each ounce of powder take 



« amateur's 

7oz. of mercury. To incorporate the mercury and copper, 
first moisten the latter with protonitrate of mercury and then 
add the mercury and rub up in a mortar. When thoroughly 
mixed wash off all acid. This amalgam is easily moulded, 
adheres readily to glass, takes a fine polish and becomes quite 
hard in a short time. 

Babbitt's Anti- Attrition Metal for lining Boxes, — First 
melt four pounds of copper, and, when melted, add, by de- 
grees, twelve pounds best quality Banca tin ; then add eight 
pounds regulus of antimony, and then twelve pounds more of 
■tin, while the composition is in a melted state. After the cop- 
per is melted, and four or five pounds of tin have been added, 
the heat should be lowered to a dull red heat, in order to 
prevent oxidation ; then add the remainder of the metal. In 
melting the composition it is better to keep a small quantity 
of powdered charcoal in the pot, on the surface of the metal. 

The above composition is made in the first place and is 
called hardening ; for lining work take one pound of the 
hardening and melt with two pounds Banca tin, which pro- 
duces the very best lining metal. So that the proportions for 
lining metal is four pounds copper, eight regulus of antimo- 
ny and ninety-six pounds tin. 

The object in first preparing the hardening is economy, 
for when the whole is melted together there is a great waste 
of metal, as the hardening is melted at a much less degree 
of heat than the copper and antimony separately. 

Fusible Alloys. — 1. Bismuth, 8 ; lead, 5 ; tin, 3 . Melts 
with the heat of boiling water. 

2. Lead, 3 ; tin, 2 ; bismuth, 5. Melts at 197 degrees, 
Fahrenheit. 

3. Bismuth, 15 ; lead, 8 ; tin, 4 ; cadmium, 3. Melts be- 
tween 150 and 160 deg. Fahr. 

Pewter, — Tin, 4 ; lead, 1. 

Type Metal. — Lead, 44 ; antimony, 8 ; tin, 1. 



HAN'DBOOK. 9 

Brazing and Soldering. 

The term soldering is generally applied when fusible al- 
loys of lead and tin are employed. When hard metals, such 
as copper, brass or silver are used, the term brazing (derived 
from brass) is more appropriate. 

In uniting tin, copper, brass, etc., with any of the soft 
solders, a copper soldering-iron is generally used. This tool 
and the manner of using it are too well known to need de- 
scription. In many cases, however, the work may be done 
more neatly without the soldering-iron, by filing or turning 
the joints so that they fit closely, moistening them with sol- 
dering fluid, placing a piece of smooth tin-foil between them, 
tying them together with binding wire and heating the 
whole in a lamp or fire till the tin-foil melts. We have 
often joined pieces of brass in thl§ way so that the joints 
were quite invisible. Indeed, with good soft solder almost 
all work may be done over a lamp without the use of a sol- 
dering-iron. 

Advantage may be taken of the varying degrees of fusi- 
bility of solders to make several joints in the same piece of 
work. Thus, if the first joint has been made with fine tin- 
ner's solder, there would be no danger of melting it in mak- 
ing a joint near it with bismuth solder, composed of lead, 4, 
tin, 4, and bismuth, 1, and the melting point of both is far 
enough removed from that of a solder composed of lead, 2, 
tin, 1, and bismuth, 2, to be in no danger of fusion during 
the use of the latter. 

Soft solders do not make malleable joints. To join brass, 
copper or iron so as to have the joint very strong and mal- 
leable, hard solder must be used. For this purpose equal 
parts of silver and brass will be found excellent, though for 
iron, copper, or very infusible brass nothing is better than 
silver coin rolled out thin, which may be done by any silver- 
emith or dentist. This makes decidedly the toughest of all 



10 AMATEUR^S 

joints, and as a little silver goes a long way, it is not very 
expensive. 

For most hard solders borax is the best flux. It dissolves 
any oxides which may exist on the surface of the metal and 
protects the latter from the further action of the air, so that 
the solder is enabled to come into actual contact with the 
surfaces which are to be joined. For soft solders the best 
flux is a soldering fluid which may be prepared by saturat- 
ing equal parts of water and hydrochloric acid (spirit of salt) 
with zinc. The addition of a little sal ammoniac is said to 
improve it. In using ordinary tinner's solder, resin is the 
best and cheapest flux. It possesses this important advan- 
tage over chloride of zinc, that it does not induce subsequent 
corrosion of the article to which it is applied. When chlo- 
rides have been applied to any thing that is liable to rust, it is 
necessary to see that they are thoroughly washed ofi^ and the 
articles carefully dried. 

More minute directions may be found in the Young 
Scientist, vol. I, page 56. 



Bronzing. 



Two distinct processes have had this name applied to 
them. The first consists in staining brass work a dark brown 
or bronze color and lacquering it ; the second consists in par- 
tially corroding the brass so as to give it that greenish hue 
which is peculiar to ancient brass work. The first is gener- 
ally applied to instruments and apparatus, the second to 
articles of ornament. ' 

Bronze for Brass Instruments. — 1. The cheapest and sim- 
plest is undoubtedly a light coat of plumbago or black lead. 
After brushing the article with plumbago place it on a clear 
fire till it is made too hot to be touched. Apply a plate 
brush as soon as it ceases to be hot enough to burn the brush. 
A few strokes of the brush will produce a dark brown polish 



HAIS^DEOOK. 11 

approaching black, but entirely distinct from the well known 
appearance of black lead. Lacquer with any desired tint. 

2. Plate powder or rouge may be used instead of plum- 
bago and gives very beautiful effects. 

3. Make the articles bright, then dip in aqua fortis, which 
must be thoroughly rinsed off" with clean water. Then make 
the following mixture : Hydrochloric acid, 6 lbs.; sulphate 
of iron, -J lb.; white arsenic, J lb. Be careful to get all the 
ingredients pure. Let the articles lie in the mixture till 
black, take out and dry in hot sawdust, polish with black 
lead and lacquer with green lacquer. 

Antique Bronze.-^'DiBSo]ye loz. sal-ammoniac, 3oz. cream 
tartar and 6oz. common salt in 1 p:':t of hot water; add 
2oz. nitrate of copper dissolved in ^ pint of water ; mix well 
and, by means of a brush, apply it repeatedly to the article, 
which should be placed in a damp situation. 

Browning Gun Barrels. 

To obtain a handsomely browned barrel we must not only 
use a first rate recipe but we must apply a good deal of skill 
and no small amount of hard work. When barrels are im- 
perfectly browned the fault lies more frequently in defective 
work than in the use of a poor recipe. 

The following are the directions given in the United 
States Ordnance Manual, and it is to be presumed that these 
are the directions that are followed in the government 
armories. 

Materials for Browning Mixture. — Spirits of wine, l|oz.; 
tincture of steel, IJoz.; corrosive sublimate, IJoz.; sweet 
spirits of nitre, IJoz.; blue vitriol, loz.; nitric acid, |oz. Ta 
be mixed and dissolved in one quart of warm water, the 
mixture to be kept in glass bottles and not in earthen jugs. 

Previous to commencing the operation of browning it i& 
necessary that the barrel or other part should be made quite 



12 amateur's 

bright with emery or a fine smooth file (but not burnished), 
after which it must be carefully cleaned from all greasiness ; 
a small quantity of powdered lime rubbed well over every 
part of the barrel, is the best for this purpose. Plugs of 
wood are then to be put into the muzzle of the barrel and 
into the vent, and the mixture applied to every part with a 
% clean sponge or rag. The barrel is then to ^e exposed to the 
air for twenty- four hours, after which time it is to be well 
rubbed over with a steel scratch-card or scratch-brush, until 
the rust is entirely removed ; the mixture may then be ap- 
plied again, as before, and in a few hours the barrel will be 
sufficiently corroded for the operation of scratch-brushing to 
be repeated. The same process of scratching off the rust 
and applying the mixture is to be repeated twice or three 
times a day for four or five days, by which time the barrel 
will be of a very dark brown color. 

When the barrel is sufficiently brown and the rust has 
been carefully removed from every part, about a quart of 
boiling water should be poured over every part of the barrel 
in order that the action of the acid mixture upon the barrel 
may be destroyed and the rust thereby prevented from 
rising again. 

The barrel, when cold, should afterwards be rubbed over 
with linseed oil or sperm oil. It is particularly directed 
that the steel scratch-card or scratch-brush be used in the 
place of a hard hair-brush, otherwise the browning will not 
be durable nor have a good appearance. 

Varnish for Browned Iron. — Shellac, loz.; dragon's 
blood, r^ of an oz.; alcohol, 1 quart. 

Very complete directions for browning barrels may be 
found in a little book called '* Shooting on the Wing," which 
may be obtained from the publishers of this volume. 

Case Hardening. 

1. Where it is desired that the articles should be hard- 



HANDBOOK. i:i 

ened to a considerable depth : char a quantity of bones just 
enough {and no more) to enable you to powder them with a 
hammer. Lay a layer of this bone dust over the bottom of 
an iron tray or box, which may be easily made by bending 
heavy sheet iron into form. Lay the articles to be hardened 
on the bone dust, taking care that they do not touch each 
other. Cover with bone dust and fill up the tray with spent 
dust, charcoal or sand. Expose to a bright cherry red heat for 
half an hour or an hour and then turn the entire contents of 
the tray into a vessel of cold water. We have seen beautiful 
results obtained by this process when carried out in a com- 
mon kitchen stove. 

2. Where "mere superficial hardening is required, heat 
the article to be hardened to a bright cherry red ; sprinkle 
it liberally with powdered prussiate of potash. The salt 
will fuse, and if the piece of iron is small and gets cooled, 
heat it again and plunge into cold water. 

Cements. 

Aquarium Cement. — Litharge, fine, white, dry sand and 
plaster of Paris, each 1 gill ; finely pulverized resin, -i- gill. 
Mix thoroughly and make into a paste with boiled linseed 
oil to which dryer has been added. Beat it well and let it 
stand four or five hours before using it. After it has stood 
for 15 hours, however, it loses its strength. Glass cemented 
into its frame with this cement is good for either salt or fresh 
water. It has been used at the Zoological Gardens, London, 
with great success. It might be useful for constructing 
tanks for other purposes or for stopping leaks. 

Armenian Cement. — The jewellers of Turkey, who are- 
mostly Armenians, have a singular method of ornamenting 
watch-cases, etc., with diamonds and other precious stones by 
simply gluing or cementing them on. The stone is set in 
gold or silver, and the lower part of the metal made flat or 



11 amateur's 

to correspond with that part to which it is to be fixed. It 
is then warmed gently and the glue applied, which is so 
very strong that the parts thus cemented never separate. 
This glue, which will firmly unite bits of glass and even 
polished steel, and may of course be applied to a vast variety 
of useful purposes, is thus made : Dissolve five or six bits 
of gum mastic, each the size of a large pea, in as much 
alcohol as will suffice to render it liquid ; in another vessel 
dissolve as much isinglass, previously a little softened in 
water, (though none of the water must be used,) in good 
brandy or rum, as will make a two ounce phial of very strong 
glue, adding two small bits of gum galbanum, or ammoni- 
acum, which must be rubbed or ground until they are dis- 
solved. Then mix the whole with a sufficient heat, keep 
the glue in a phial closely stopped, and when it is to be used 
set the phial in boiling water. To avoid the cracking of the 
phial by exposure to such sudden heat, use a thin green 
glass phial, and hold it in the steam for a few seconds before 
immersing it in the hot water. 

BucMand/s Cement for Labels, — Finely powdered white 
sugar, loz.; finely powdered starch, 3oz.; finely powdered 
gum arable, 4oz. Rub well together in a dry mortar ; then 
little by little add cold water until it is of the thickness of 
melted glue ; put in a wide mouthed bottle aad cork closely. 
The powder, thoroughly ground and mixed, may be kept for 
any length of time in a wide mouthed bottle, and when 
wanted a little may be mixed with water with a stiff brush. 

Cement for Glass, Earthenware, etc. — Dilute white of egg 
-with its bulk of water and beat up thoroughly. Mix to the 
consistence of thin paste with powdered quicklime. Must 
be used immediately. 

Cement for Kerosene Lamps, — The cement commonly 
used is plaster of Paris, which is porous and quickly pene- 
trated by the kerosene. Another cement which has not this 



HANDBOOK. 15 

defect is made with three parts of resin, one of caustic soda 
and five of water. This composition is mixed with half its 
weight of plaster of Paris. It sets firmly in about three- 
quarters of an hour. It is said to be of great adhesive power, 
not permeable to kerosene, a low conductor of heat and but 
superficially attacked by hot water. 

Cement for attaching Leather to Metal, — Wash the metal 
with hot gelatine ; steep the leather in an infusion of nut 
galls (hot) and bring the two together. 

Cement for Leather Belting. — One who has tried every- 
thing says that after an experience of fifteen years he has 
found nothing to equal the following : Common glue and 
isinglass, equal parts, soaked for 10 hours in just enough 
water to cover them. Bring gradually to a boiling heat and 
add pure tannin until the whole becomes ropy or appears 
like the white of eggs. Buff off the surfaces to be joined, 
apply this cement warm, and clamp firmly. 

Cement for attaching Metal to Glass. — Copal varnish, 15 ; 
drying oil, 5 ; turpentine, 3. Melt in a water bath and add 
10 parts slacked lime. 

Cementing Labels to Metal. — For attaching labels to tin 
and other bright metallic surfaces, first rub the surface with 
a mixture of muriatic acid and alcohol ; then apply the label 
with a very thin coating of the paste and it will adhere al- 
most as well as on glass. 

Cheese Cement for mending China, etc. — Take skim milk 
cheese, cut it in slices and boil it in water. Wash it in cold 
water and knead it in warm water several times. Place it 
warm on a levigating stone and knead it with quicklime. 
It will join marble, stone or earthenware so that the joining 
is scarcely to be discovered. 

Chinese Cement (Schio-liao), — To three parts of fresh 
beaten blood are added four parts of siaked lime and a little 



16 amateue's 

alum ; a thin, pasty mass is produced, which can be used im- 
mediately. Objects which are to be made specially water- 
proof are painted by the Chinese twice, or at the most three 
times. Dr. Scherzer saw in Pekin a wooden box which had 
travelled the tedious road via Siberia to St. Petersburg and 
back, which was found to be perfectly sound and water- 
proof. Even baskets made of straw became, by the use of 
this cement, perfectly serviceable in the transportation of 
oil. Pasteboard treated therewith receives the appearance 
and strength of wood. Most of the wooden public buildings 
of China are painted with schio-liao, which gives them an 
unpleasant reddish appearance, but adds to their durability. 
This cement was tried in the Austrian department of Agri- 
culture, and by the ** Vienna Association of Industry," and 
in both cases the statements of Dr. Scherzer were found to- 
be strictly accurate. 

Chinese Cement, — Shellac dissolved in alcohol. Used for 
joining wood, earthenware, glass, etc. 

Faraday's Cap Cement, — Electrical Cement, — Resin, 5oz.; 
beeswax, loz.; red ochre or Venetian red in powder, loz. 
Dry the earth thoroughly on a stove at a temperature above 
212 deg. Melt the wax and resin together and stir in the 
powder by degrees. Stir until cold lest the earthy matter 
settle to the bottom. Used for fastening brass work to glass^ 
tubes, flasks, etc. 

Olue is undoubtedly the most important cement used in 
the arts. Good glue is hard, clear (not necessarily light-col- 
ored, however,) and free from bad taste and smell. Glue 
which is easily dissolved in cold water is not strong. Good 
glue merely swells in cold water and must be heated to the 
boiling point before it will dissolve thoroughly. Great care 
must be taken not to burn it and, therefore, it should alwaya 
be prepared in a water bath. 

Iron Cement for closing the Joints of 1/ron Pipes. — Take 



HANDBOOK. 17 

of iron borings coarse powdered, 5 pounds ; powdered sal- 
ammoniac, 2oz.; sulphur, loz., and water sufficient to moisten 
it. This composition hardens rapidly ; but if time can be al- 
lowed it sets more firmly without the sulphur. It must be 
used as soon as mixed and rammed tightly into the joints. 

Cast Iron Cement — Take sal-ammoniac, 2oz.; sublimed' 
sulphur, loz.; cast-iron filings or fine turnings, 1 lb. Mix in 
a mortar and keep the powder dry. When it is to be used, 
mix it with twenty times its weight of clean iron turnings^ 
or filings, and grind the whole in a mortar ; then wet it with 
water until it becomes of convenient consistence, when it i& 
to be applied to the joint. After a time it becomes as hard 
and strong as any part of the metal. 

Japanese Cement, — Paste made of fine rice flour. 

Liquid Clue, — 1. Dissolve 8oz. glue in J pint of water 
and add slowly 2 Joz. strong nitric acid. 

2. Dissolve glue in strong vinegar. 

Mouth Glue or Portable Glue. — Good glue, lib.; isinglass,. 
4oz. Soften in water, boil and add -^Ib. fine brown sugar. 
Boil till pretty thick and pour into moulds. 

Mucilage for Labels, — 1. Macerate 5 parts of good glue in 
18 parts of water. Boil and add 9 parts rock candy and 8^ 
parts gum arable. 

2. Mix dextrine with water and add a drop or two of 
glycerine. 

3. A mixture of 1 part of dry chloride of calcium, or 
2 parts of the same salt in the crystallized form, and 36 parts 
of gum arable, dissolved in water to a proper consistency, 
forms a mucilage which holds well, does not crack by drying 
and yet does not attract sufficient moisture from the air to- 
become wet in damp weather. 

Paris Cement for mending Shells and other specimens. — 
Gum arable, 5 ; sugar candy, 2. White lead. 



18 

Paste. — 1. The best paste is made of good flour, well 
boiled. Resin, etc., do more harm than good. 

2. An excellent white paste may be made by dissolving 
2^oz. gum arable in 2 quarts hot water and thickening with 
wheat flour. To this is added a solution of alum and sugar 
of lead ; the mixture is heated and stirred till about to boil, 
when it is allowed to cool. 

3. Four parts, by weight, of glue are allowed to soften in 
15 parts of cold water for some hours, and then moderately 
heated till the solution becomes qui^e clear. 65 parts of 
boiling water are now added with stirring. In another ves- 
sel SO parts of starch paste are stirred up with 20 parts of 
cold water, so that a thin milky fluid is obtained without 
lumps. Into this the boiling glue solution is poured, with 
constant stirring, and the whole is kept at the boiling tem- 
perature. After cooling 10 drops of carbolic acid are added 
to the paste. This paste is of extraordinary adhesive power 
and may be used for leather, paper, or cardboard with great 
success. It must be preserved in closed bottles to prevent 
evaporation of the water, and will, in this way, keep good 
for years. 

4. Rice flour makes an excellent paste for fine paper 
work. 

Sorer s Cement. — Mix commercial zinc white with ^ its 
bulk of fine sand, adding a solution of chloride of zinc of 1.26 
specific gravity, and rub the whole thoroughly together in a 
mortar. The mixture must be applied at once, as it hardens 
very quickly. 

Transparent Cement for glass, — Fine Canada balsam. 

Turner's Cement. — Melt lib. of resin in a pan over the 
fire and, when melted, add a -J of a lb. of pitch. While these 
are boiling add brick dust until, by dropping a little on a 
cold stone, you think it hard enough. In winter it may be 
necessary to add a little tallow. By means of this cement a 



HAKDBOOK. 19 

piece of wood may be fastened to the chuck, which will 
hold when cool ; and when the work is finished it may be 
removed by a smart stroke with the tool. Any traces of the 
cement may be removed from the work by means of benzine. 
Wollaston's White Cement for large objects, — Beeswax, 
loz.; resin, 4oz.; powdered plaster of Paris, 5oz. Melt to- 
gether. To use, warm the edges of the specimen and use the 
cement warm. 

Desilvering, 

To Dissolve the Silver off old Plated Goods, — Mix loz. of 
finely powdered saltpetre with lOoz. sulphuric acid and 
steep the goods in this mixture. If diluted with water it 
acts on copper and other metals, but if very strong it dis- 
solves the silver only, and may be used to dissolve silver off 
plated goods without affecting the other metals. 

Etching. 

Etching Liquid for Steel, — Mix loz. sulphate of copper, 
:^oz. of alum and J a tea-spoonful of salt reduced to powder, 
with 1 gill of vinegar and 20 drops of nitric acid. This 
liquid may be used either for eating deeply into the metal 
or for imparting a beautiful frosted appearance to the sur- 
face, according to the time it is allowed to act. Cover the 
parts you wish to protect from its influence with beeswax, 
tallow, or some similar substance. 

Etching on Glass, — Fancy work, ornamental figures 
lettering and monograms are most easily and neatly cut 
into glass by the sand blast process, a simple apparatus for 
which will be found described in the Young Scientist. Lines 
and figures on tubes, jars, etc., may be deeply etched by 
smearing the surface of the glass with beeswax, drawing 
the lines with a steel point and exposing the glass to the 
fumes of hydrofluoric acid. This acid is obtained by putting 



20 amateur's 

powdered fluor spar into a tray made of sheet lead and pour- 
ing sulphuric acid on it, after which the tray is slightly 
warmed. 

Gilding. 

Gilding on Leather, Clothy etc. — 1. Articles of this kind 
may be gilded by first smearing them with diluted white of 
egg and then stamping the pattern (letters or any other 
device) with a hot metallic stamp. The superfluous gold is 
removed by means of a tuft of cotton. To gild wood, etc., 
first make the surface quite smooth, then coat with gold 
size, and when the latter has dried so as to be tacky, apply 
gold leaf. When well dried burnish with some smooth tool^ 
preferably a bit of agate. 

2. Ornamental lines of gilding may be painted on wood 
and other articles by means of a fine camel hair brush, using 
shell gold, which may be had at the artists' supply stores. 

Gilding Metals, — Polished steel may be beautifully gilded 
by means of the ethereal solution of gold. Dissolve pure 
gold in aqua regia, evaporate gently to dryness, so as to drive 
off the superfluous acid, re-dissolve in water and add three 
times its bulk of sulphuric ether. Allow to stand for twen- 
ty-four hours in a stoppered bottle and the ethereal solution 
of gold will float at top. Polished steel dipped in this is at 
once beautifully gilded, and by tracing patterns on the sur- 
face of the metal with any kind of varnish, beautiful de- 
vices in plain metal and gilt will be produced. For other 
metals the electro process is the best. 

Glass Working. 

Glass is usually brought into shape by being moulded or 
blown. Simple and complete directions for blowing small 
articles may be found in the Young JScientist, vol. i, p. 37. 



HANDBOOK. 21 

There are a few other operations, however, which are con- 
stantly needed by the amateur and which we will describe. 

Cutting Glass. — For cutting flat glass, such as window- 
panes, and for cutting rounds or ovals out of flat glass, the 
diamond is the best tool ; and, if the operator has no dia- 
mond it will always pay to carry the job to a glaJier rather 
than waste time and make a poor job by other and inferior 
means. When, however, it is required to cut ofi^ a very lit- 
tle from a circle or oval, the diamond is not available, ex- 
cept in very skilful hands. In this case a pair of pliers soft- 
ened by heating, or very dull scissors is the best tool, and 
the cutting is best performed under water. A little practice 
will enable the operator to shape a small round or oval with 
great rapidity, ease and precision. When bottles or flasks 
are to be cut, the diamond is still the best tool in skilful 
hands ; but ordinary operators will succeed best with pas- 
tilles, or a red hot poker with a pointed end. We prefer the 
latter, as being the most easily obtained and the most eflfi- 
cient ; and we have never found any difficulty in cutting off 
broken flasks so as to make dishes, or to carry a cut spirally 
round a long bottle so as to cut it into the form of a cork- 
screw. And, by the way, when so cut, glass exhibits consid- 
erable elasticity, and the spiral may be elongated like a 
ringlet. The process is very simple. The line of the cut 
should be marked by chalk or by pasting a thin strip of 
paper alongside of it ; then make a file mark to commence 
the cut ; apply the hot iron and a crack will start ; and this 
crack will follow the iron wherever we choose to lead it. 
In this way jars are easily made out of old bottles, and 
broken vessels of difierent kinds may be cut up into new 
forms. Flat glass may also be cut into the most intricate 
and elegant forms. The red hot iron is fai superior to strings 
* wet with turpentine, friction, etc. 

Drilling Glass. — For drilling holes in glass, a common 



22 amateur's 

steel drill, well made and well tempered, is the best tool. 
The steel should be forged at a low temperature, so as to be 
sure not to burn it, and then tempered as hard as possible in 
a bath of salt water that has been well boiled. Such a drill 
will go through glass very rapidly if kept well moistened 
with turpentine in which some camphor has been dissolved. 
Dilute sulphuric acid is equally good, if not better. It is 
stated, that at Berlin, glass castings for pump-barrels, etc., 
are drilled, planed and bored, iike iron ones, and in the same 
lathes and machines, by the aid of sulphuric acid. A little 
practice with these different plans will enable the operator 
to cut and work glass as easily as brass or iron. 

Turning Glass in the Lathe. — Black diamonds are now so 
easily procured that they are the best tools for turning, 
planing or boring glass where much work is to be done. 
With a good diamond a skilful worker can turn a lens out 
of a piece of flat glass in a few seconds, so that it will be 
very near the right shape. 

Glass Stoppers. — To remove glass stoppers when tightly 
fixed, it has been recommended to apply a cloth wet in hot 
water. This is an inconvenient and frequently unsuccessful 
method. The great object is to expand the neck of the bot- 
tle so as to loosen it on the stopper. If, however, the latter 
be heated and expanded equally with the former the desired 
effect is not produced ; and this is often the case in applying 
hot water. By holding the neck of the bottle about half an 
inch above the flame of a lamp or candle, for a few seconds, 
we have never failed in the most obstinate cases. The 
hands should be wrapped in a towel and great care should 
be taken not to let the flame touch the glass, as this might 
cause it to crack. The bottle should be kept rapidly turn- 
ing, during the operation, so as to bring all parts of the neck 
equally under the influencv. i the heat, when it will be 
rapidly expanded and the stopper may be withdrawn by a 



HANDBOOK. 23 

steady pull and twist. Sometimes it is necessary to tap the 
stopper lightly with a piece of wood ; the jar is very apt to 
loosen the stopper. To twist the stopper, make, in a piece 
of wood, an oblong hole into which the stopper will just fit. 

Hardening and Annealing Copper, Brass, etc. 

Copper, brass, German silver and similar metals are 
hardened by hammering, rolling or wire- drawing and are 
softened by being heated red hot and plunged in water. 
Copper, by being alloyed with tin, may be made so hard 
that cutting instruments may be made of it. This is the old 
process of hardening copper, which is so often claimed to be 
one of the lost arts. 

Inks. 

Black Ink. — 1. In 1 gallon of water boil lib. bruised Aleppo 
.galls for two hours and strain when cold. Dissolve 5Joz. 
sulphate of iron and 5oz. gum arable in as little water as is 
necessary and mix the two liquids with constant stirring. 
Keep in a tall bottle, allow it to settle for some days and it 
will be ready for use. 

2. It is said that the juice of elderberries to which sul- 
phate of iron has been added, makes a good ink. The best 
formula is said to be V^\ pints juice and -^oz. each sulphate 
of iron and crude pyroligneous acid. 

Runge's Black Ink. — Digest :|-lb. logwood in chips for 12 
hours in 3 pints boiling water. Simmer down gently to 1 
quart, filter and add 20 grains yellow chromate of potassa. 

Blue /n/fc.— Take 6 drachms pure Prussian blue and 1 
drachm, oxalic acid. Grind in a mortar with a little water 
until they form a perfectly smooth paste. Dissolve a suffi- 
cient quantity of this paste in water to give the proper tint. 

Carmine Ink. — Dissolve 12 grains pure carmine in 3 oz. 
water of ammonia and add 18 grains powdered gum a-rabic 



24 AMATEUR^S 

Bed Ink, — Boil ^Ib. of Brazil wood, ^oz. of gum, ^oat. 
of sugar and ^oz. of alum in a sufficient quantity of vinegar. 

Marking Ink for Linen, — Dissolve |^oz. nitrate of silver 
in loz. water and add strong liquid ammonia until the pre- 
cipitate which is at first formed is redissolved. Add 1^. 
drachm gum mucilage and enough coloring matter to render 
the writing clearly visible. The writing is made black by 
passing a hot iron over it. Keep in the dark. 

Gold Ink, — Grind gold leaf with honey in a mortar until 
it is reduced to a fine powder. Wash out the honey with 
hot water and add mucilage of gum arable. A cheap article- 
may be made by using yellow bronze powder. 

Silver Ink, — Prepared in the same way as gold ink, using 
silver leaf or silver bronze powder. 

Sympathetic Ink or Secret Ink. — 1. Write with thin solu- 
tion of starch and let the correspondent wash with solution 
of iodine. 

2. Write with milk, onion juice or lemon juice, and let 
the correspondent expose to heat. 

3. Write with solution of tartar emetic and wash witk 
any alkaline sulphuret. Letters may be written on postal 
cards with these inks, and will remain invisible until 
washed with the appropriate solution or exposed to heat. 
To prevent the letters from being seen by close scrutiny the 
solutions should be very dilute, and to distract the attention 
of those not in the secret, write some unimportant matter, 
in lines far apart, and between them write the private matter 
in secret or sympathetic ink. 

Lacquer. 

Lacquer is so called because it usually contains gum lac, 
either shellac or seed lac. Seed lac is the original form of 
the gum or resin ; after being purified it is moulded into 
thin sheets, like shell, and hence is called shellac. Shellac 



HANDBOOK. 25 

U frequently bleached so as to become quite white, in which 
estate it forms a colorless solution. Bleached shellac is never 
as strong as the gum in its natural condition, and unless it be 
fresh it neither dissolves well in alcohol nor does it preserve 
any metal to which it may be applied. 

There are many recipes for good lacquer, but the success 
of the operator depends quite as much upon skill as upon 
^^, the particular recipe employed. The metal must be cleaned 
perfectly from grease and dirt, and in lacquering new work 
it is always best to lacquer as soon after polishing as possi- 
ble. Old lacquer may be removed with a strong lye of 
potash or soda, after which the work should be well washed 
in water, dried in fine beech or box-wood sawdust and pol- 
ished with whiting, applied with a soft brush. The condi- 
tion of the work, as to cleanliness and polish, is perhaps tlie 
most important point in lacquering. 

The metal should be heated and the lacquer applied 
evenly with a soft camel hair brush. A temperature of 
about that of boiling water will be found right. 

Lacquer is colored either red with dragon's blood or yel- 
low with turmeric or gamboge. The following are a few 
favorite recipes. 

Deep Gold Lacquer, — Alcohol, | pint; dragon's blood, 1 
-drachm ; seed lac, l^oz. ; turmeric, Joz. Shake up well for a 
week, at intervals of, say, a couple of hours ; then allow to 
settle, and decant the clear lacquer ; and if at all dirty filter 
through a tuft of cotton wool. This lacquer may be diluted 
with a simple solution of shellac in alcohol and will then 
,give a paler tint. 

Bright Gold Lacquer,— 1. Turmeric, loz.; saffron Joz.. 
Spanish anatto, Joz.; alcohol, 1 pint. Digest at a gentle 
heat for several days ; strain through coarse linen ; put the 
tincture in a bottle and add 3oz. good seed lac coarsely pow 
dered. Let it stand for several days, shaking occasionally 
Allow to settle and use the clear liquid. 



26 AMATEUR^S 

2. Take loz. anatto and 8oz. alcohol. Mix in a bottle- 
by themselves. Also mix separately loz. gamboge and 8oz. 
alcohol. With these mixtures color seed lac varnish to salt 
yourself. If it be too red add gamboge ; if too yellow add 
anatto ; if the color be too deep, add spirit. In this manner 
you may color brass of any desired tint. 

Pale Gold Lacquer. — Best pale shellac (picked pieces), 
8oz.; sandarac, 2oz.; turmeric, 8oz.; anatto, 2oz.; dragon's 
blood, Joz.; alcohol, 1 gallon. Mix, shake frequently till ' 
the gums are dissolved and the color extracted from the col- 
oring matters and then allow to settle. 

Lacquer used hy A. Boss. — 4oz. shellac and Joz. gamboge 
are dissolved by agitation, without heat, in 24oz. pure pyro- 
acetic ether. The solution is allowed to stand until the 
gummy matters, not taken up by the spirit, subside. The 
clear liquor is then decanted, and when required for use is 
mixed with 8 times its quantity of alcohol. In this case the 
pyro-acetic ether is employed for dissolving the shellac in 
order to prevent any but the purely resinous portions being 
taken up, which is almost certain to occur with ordinary 
alcohol ; but if the lacquer were made entirely with pyro- 
acetic ether, the latter would evaporate too rapidly to allow 
time for the lacquer to be equally applied. 

Lubricators. 

Mne Lubricating Oil, — 1. Put fine olive oil in a bottle with 
scrapings of lead and expose it to the sun for a few weeks. 
Pour off the clear oil for use. 

2. Freeze fine olive oil, strain out the liquid portion and 
preserve for use. 

Booth's Axle Grease. — Dissolve ^Ib. washing soda in 1 
gallon water and add 31bs. tallow and 61bs. palm oil. Heat to 
210 deg. Fahr., and keep constantly stirring until coaled to 
60 or 70 deg. 



HANDBOOK. 27 

Anti' Attrition,— Mix 41bs. tallow or soap with lib. finely 
ground plumbago. The best lubricator for wood working 
on wood. Excellent for wooden screws where great power 
is required. 

Polishing Metals. 

Metals are polished either by burnishing or buffing. The 
process of burnishing consists in rubbing down all the 
minute roughnesses by means of a highly polished steel or 
agate tool — none of the metal being removed. Buffing is 
performed by rubbing the metal with soft leather, which 
has been charged with very fine polishing powder. The 
rubbing is sometimes done by hand but naore frequently the 
buff is made into a wheel which revolves rapidly in a lathe 
and the work is held against it. The best polishing powder 
is crocus or rouge, which may be purchased of any dealer in 
tools or may be made by exposing very clean and pure crys- 
tals of sulphate of iron to heat. Those portions which are 
least calcined, and are of a scarlet color, are suitable for soft 
metals like gold or silver ; those which have become red, 
purple or bluish purple are fit for brass or steel. The hard- 
est part will be found at the bottom of the crucible. 

Polishing Wood. 

Turned articles must be brought to a fine smooth surface 
with the finest sand-paper and the direction of the motion 
should be occasionally reversed so that the fibres which are 
laid down by rubbing one way may be raised up and cut off. 
To apply the polish, which is merely a solution of shellac in 
alcohol, take three or four thicknesses of linen rag arid place 
a few drops of polish in the centre ; lay over this a single 
thickness of linen rag and a drop or two of raw linseed oil 
over the polish. The rubber is then applied with light fric- 
tion over the entire surface of the work while revolving in 



"28 amateur's 

the lathe, never allowing the hand or mandrel to remain 
still for an instant, so as to spread the varnish as evenly as 
possible, especially at the commencement, and paying par- 
ticular attention to the internal angles, so as to prevent 
either deficiency or excess of varnish at those parts. The 
oil, in some degree, retards the evaporation of the spirit 
from the varnish and allows time for the process ; it also 
presents a smooth surface and lessens the friction against 
the tender gum. When the varnish appears dry, a second, 
third and even further quantities are applied in the same 
manner, working, of course, more particularly upon those 
parts at all slighted in the earlier steps. 

Flat surfaces are polished in a similar manner. The 
wood must first be filled^ as it is called, and for this nothing 
is better than whiting colored so as to resemble the wood 
and kept dry. Rub the wood with linseed oil and then 
sprinkle it with whiting. Rub the latter well in, wipe it off 
carefully and give time to dry. This is far superior to size. 

The polisher, however, generally consists of a wad of list 
rolled spirally, tied with twine and covered with a few thick- 
nesses of linen rag. Apply a little varnish to the middle of 
the rubber and then enclose the latter in a soft linen rag 
folded twice. Moisten the face of the linen with a little raw 
linseed oil applied to the middle of it by means of the finger. 
Pass the rubber quickly and lightly over the surface of the 
work in small circular strokes until the varnish becomes 
nearly dry ; charge the rubber with varnish again and 
repeat the rubbing till three coats are laid on, when a little 
■oil may be applied to the rubber and two more coats given 
it. Proceed in this way until the varnish has acquired some 
thickness ; then wet the inside of the linen cloth, before ap- 
plying the varnish, with alcohol and rub quickly, lightly 
and uniformly the whole surface. Lastly wet the linen 
cloth with a little oil and alcohol, without varnish, and rub 
as before till dry. Each coat is to be rubbed until the rag 



HANDBOOK. 29 

appears dry, and too much varnish must not be put on the 
rag at one time. Be also very particular to have the rags 
clean, as the polish depends in a great degree upon keeping 
everything free from dust and dirt. 

Silvering. 

Leather, cloth, wood and similar materials are silvered 
by processes similar to those used for gilding, (page 20), 
silver leaf being substituted for gold leaf. Metals may be 
silvered either by brazing a thin sheet of silver to the sur- 
face or by electro-plating. Frequently, however, it is desired 
to lightly silver a metal surface, such as brass or copper, so 
as to make any figures engraved thereon appear more dis- 
tinct. Clock faces, dials and the scales of thermometers and 
barometers are cases in point, and if the surface be well 
lacquered with white lacquer after being silvered, such a 
coating is very durable. Silvering fluids or powders con- 
taining mercury should never be used unless the articles are 
to be afterwards exposed to a red heat so as to drive off the 
mercury. A silvering fluid which is very commonly sold to 
housekeepers under the name of Novargent or Plate JReno- 
<oator, consists merely of nitrate of mercury or quicksilver. 
When rubbed on a copper cent or a brass stair-rod it gives 
it at once a bright silvery surface, but the brightness soon 
fades and the article, if brass, becomes black and dirty, 
while if it should be a piece of plated ware it will be ruined. 
•Stair-rods and similar articles, if well silvered with powder 
No. 1 and then lacquered with good lacquer, will present a 
white silvery appearance for a long time. Plated goods 
should be recoated by the electro-plating process. 

Silvering Powder, — 1. Nitrate of silver, 30 grains ; com- 
mon salt, 30 grains ; cream tartar, 200 grains. Mix. Moisten 
with water and rub on the article with wash leather. Gives 
a white silvery appearance to brass, copper, etc. 



30 AMATEUR^S 

2. No'oa/i^genL — Add common salt to a solution of nitrate 
of silver until the silver has all been precipitated. Wash 
the white precipitate or chloride of silver and add a strong 
solution of hyposulphite of soda until the white chloride is 
dissolved. Mix the resulting clear liquid with pipe-clay 
which has been finely powdered and thoroughly washed. 

3. Silvering Amalgam. — A coating of silver, heavier than 
can be obtained by the above, may be given by the follow- 
ing process : Precipitate silver from its solution in nitric 
acid by means of copper. Take of this powder ^oz. ; common 
salt, 2oz.; sal ammoniac, 2oz.; and corrosive sublimate, 1 
drachm. Make into a paste with water. Having carefully 
cleaned the copper surface that is to be plated, boil it in a 
solution of tartar and alum, rub it with the above paste, 
heat red hot and then polish. 

Skins— Tanning and Curing. 

Curing Fur Skins. — The following are the directions 
given in the Trapper's Guide, by Newhouse, an experienced 
trapper and hunter. 1. As soon as possible after the animal 
is dead, attend to the skinning and curing. The slightest 
taint of putrefaction loosens the fur and destroys the value 
of the skin. 2. Scrape off all superfluous flesh and fat, but 
be careful not to go so deep as to cut the fibre of the skin. 
3. Never dry a skin by the fire or in the sun, but in a cool, 
shady place, sheltered from rain. If you use a barn door 
for a stretcher, nail the skin on the inside of the door. 4. 
Never use " preparations " of any kind in curing skins, nor 
even wash them in water, but simply stretch and dry them 
as they are taken from the animal. In drying skins it is 
important that they should be stretched tight like a drum- 
head. 

To prepare Sheep Skins for Mats, — Make a strong lacher 
with hot water and let it stand till cold ; wash the fresh skin 



HANDBOOK. 31 

in it, carefully squeezing out all the dirt from the wool ; wash 
it in cold water till all the soap is taken out. Dissolve a pound 
each of salt and alum in 2 gallons of hot water, and put 
the skin into a tub sufficient to cover it ; let it soak for 12 
hours and hang it over a pole to drain. When well drained, 
stretch it carefully on a board to dry and stretch several 
times while drying. Before it is quite dry sprinkle on the 
fiesh side loz. each of finely pulverized alum and saltpetre, 
rubbing them in well. Try if the wool be firm on the skin ; 
if not, let it remain a day or two, then rub again with alum ; 
fold the flesh sides together and hang in the shade for 2 
or 3 days, turning them over each day till quite dry. Scrape 
the flesh side with a blunt knife and rub it with pumice 
or rotten stone. Very beautiful mittens can be made of 
lambs* skins prepared in this way. 

Skins of Babbits, Cats and small Animals. — Lay the skin 
on a smooth board, the fur side undermost, and fasten it 
down with tinned tacks. Wash it over first with a solution 
of salt ; then dissolve 2Joz. of alum in 1 pint of warm water, 
and with a sponge dipped in this solution, moisten the sur- 
face all over ; repeat this every now and then for 3 days. 
When the skin is quite dry take out the tacks, and rolling 
it loosely the long way, the hair side in, draw it quickly 
backwards and forwards through a large smooth ring until 
it is quite soft, and then roll it in the contrary way of the 
skin and repeat the operation. Skins prepared in this way 
are useful in many experiments and they make good gloves 
and chest protectors. 

Staining Wood. 

This process may be used either for improving the natural 
color of wood or for changing it so completely as to give it 
the appearance of an entirely different kind of timber. Thus 
a light mahogany may be greatly improved by being made 



32 AMATEUR^S 

darker, and there are many other kinds of timber that are 
greatly improved by a slight change iu their color. The fol- 
lowing notes will be of use in the latter direction : 

A solution of asphaltum in spirits of turpentine, makes 
a good brown stain for coarse oaken work, which is only in- 
tended to be varnished with boiled oil. 

When discolored ebony has been sponged once or twice 
with a strong decoction of gall-nuts, to which a quantity of 
iron filings or rust has been added, its natural blackness 
becomes more intense. 

The naturally pale ground and obscure grain of Honduras 
mahogany is often well brought out by its being coated first 
with spirits of hartshorn and then with oil which has been 
tinged with madder or Venetian red. 

Grayish maple may be whitened by carefully coating it 
with a solution of oxalic acid to which a few drops of nitric 
acid have been added. 

Half a gallon of water in which ^Ib. of oak bark and the 
same quantity of walnut shells or peels have been thorough- 
ly boiled, makes an excellent improver of inferior rose- wood ; 
it is also far before any other of its kind for bringing out 
walnut. 

Raw oil mixed with a little spirits of turpentine, is 
universally allowed to be the most efficacious improver of 
the greater number of materials. Beautiful artificial grain- 
ing may be imparted to various specimens of timber by 
means of a camel-hair pencil, with raw oil alone, that is, 
certain portions may be coated two or three times very taste- 
fully, so as to resemble the rich varying veins which con- 
stitute the fibril figures ; while the common plain parts, 
which constitute the ground shades, may only be once 
coated with the oil, very much diluted with spirits of tur- 
pentine. The following are a few useful stains : 

Mahogany, — 1. Water, 1 gallon ; madder, 8oz.; fustic, 
4oz. Boil. Lay on with a brush while hot, and while wet 



HANDBOOK. 33 

streak it witli black to vary the grain. This imitates Hon- 
duras mahogany. 

2. Madder, 8oz.; fustic, loz.; logwood, 2oz.; water, 1 gal- 
lon. Boil and lay on while hot. Resembles Spanish ma- 
hogany. 

8. A set of pine shelves, which were brushex? two or 
three times with a strong boiling decoction of logwood chips 
and varnished with solution of shellac in alcohol, appear 
almost like mahogany both in color and hardness. After 
washing with'decoction of logwood and drying thoroughly, 
they received two coats of varnish. They were then care- 
fully sand-papered and polished and received a final coat of 
shellac varnish. 

Imitation Ebony. — Wash any compact wood with a boil- 
ing decoction of logwood 3 or 4 times, allowing it to dry 
between each application. Then wash it with a solution of 
acetate of iron, which is made by dissolving iron filings in 
vinegar. This stain is very black and penetrates to a con- 
siderable depth into the wood, so that ordinary scratching 
or chipping does not show the original color. Some recipes 
direct the solutions of logwood and iron to be mixed before 
being applied, but this is a great mistake. 

Black Walnut Stain, — 1, Take asphaltum, pulverize it, 
place it in a jar or bottle, pou ^-r it about twice its bulk 
of turpentine, put it in a warm ^^^-ce and shake it from time 
to time. When dissolved, strain it and apply it to the wood 
with a cloth or stiff brush. If it should make too dark a 
stain thin it with turpentine. This will dry in a few hours. 
If it is desired to bring out the grain still moro apply a 
mixture of boiled oil and turpentine ; this is better than oil 
alone. Put no oil with the asphaltum mixture or it will 
dry very slowly. When the oil is dry the wood can be pol- 
ished with the following : Shellac varnish, of the usual con- 



34 amateur's 

sistency, 2 parts ; boiled oil, 1 part. Shake it well before 
using. Apply it to the wood by putting a few drops on a 
cloth and rubbing briskly on the wood for a few moments. 
This polish works well on old varnished furniture. 

2. The appearance of walnut may be given to white 
woods by painting or sponging them with a concentrated 
warm solution of permanganate of potassa. The effect is 
different on different kinds of timber, some becoming stained 
very rapidly, others requiring more time for the result. 
The permanganate is decomposed by the woody fibre ; brown 
peroxide of manganese is precipitated, and the potash is af- 
terwards removed by washing with water. The wood, when 
dry, may be varnished. 

Brown Stain. — Paint over the wood with a solution made 
by boiling 1 part of catechu (cutch or gambler) with 30 parts 
of water and a little soda. This must be allowed to dry in 
the air, and then the wood is to be painted over with another 
solution made of 1 part of bichromate of potash and 30 parts 
of water. By a little difference in the mode of treatment 
and by varying the strength of the solutions, various shades 
of color may be given with these materials, which will be 
permanent and tend to preserve the wood. 

Steel— Working and Tempering. 

Most amateurs will find themselves, at times, compelled 
to forge and temper their own tools, such as drills, cold 
chisels, etc. The following hints will be of service. 

Forging Steel. — Beware of over-heating the piece to be 
forged and also be careful that the fire is free from sulphur. 
Small drills are easily heated in the flame of a lamp or 
candle ; a Bunsen burner will heat sufficiently quite a good 
sized tool. Charcoal makes the best fire for large tools. If 
you are compelled to use common coal let the fire burn until 



HANDBOOK. 35 

most of the sulphur has been driven oflf. Do not hammer 
with heavy blows after the steel has cooled. By tapping it 
lightly, however, until it becomes black, the closeness of 
the grain is increased. 

To Eestore burnt Cast Steel— -llesit it to a bright cherry 
red and quench it in water. Do this a few times and then 
forge it carefully and it will be as good as ever. The various 
recipes for mixtures for restoring burnt steel are worthless. 
^ Hardening and Tempering Steel. — Heat the steel to a 
bright cherry red and plunge it in water that has been thor- 
oughly boiled and then allowed to cool. It will then be " as 
hard as fire and water will make it," and too hard for any- 
thing except hardened bearings or tools for cutting and 
drilling glass and very hard metals. To make it stand work 
without breaking it must be tempered. To do this, polish 
the surface on a grindstone or with emery paper, so that 
any change in the color of the metal may be easily seen. 
Then heat the tool until the cutting edge shows the proper 
color, as given below. Large drills and cold chisels are 
hardened and tempered at one operation, the cutting edge 
being cooled and hardened while the upper part is left hot. 
When taken from the water the heat from the shank passes 
towards the cutting edge and brings it to the right degree 
of softness. Small drills have to be tempered in the flame 
of a lamp. A spirit lamp is best, and the neatest plan is 
to heat the drill a short distance from the point and allow 
the heat to flow towards the cutting edge. As soon as the 
right color is seen on the edge, the entire tool is plunged in 
water and cooled. In this way the shank is kept soft and 
the tool is not so apt to snap off. 

The following are the degrees of heat (Fahrenheit) and 
corresponding colors to which tools for different purposes 
should be brought : 



36 amateur's 

TEMPERATURE. COLOR. TEMPER. 

430*^ Very faint yellow. ) Very hard ; suitable for ham- 
450* Pale straw color. J mer faces, drills for stone, etc» 
470® Pull yellow. ) Hard and inelastic ; suitable 

>• for shears, scissors, turning 
490^* Brown. ) tools for hard metal, etc. 

510° Brown with purple ) Suitable for tools for cutting 
spots. >• wood and soft metals, such as 

588® Purple. ) plane irons, knives, etc. 

550® Dark blue. ^ For tools requiring strong cuft 

560® Full blue. (ting edges without extreme 

[hardness ; as cold chisels, axes, 
J cutlery, etc. 
600® Grayish blue verg- ) Spring temper ; saws, swords, 
ing on black. ) 

Varnishes. 

It is in general more economical to buy varnishes than to 
make them on the small scale. Occasionally, however, our 
readers may find themselves in a situation where a simple 
recipe for a good varnish will prove valuable. We append 
a few recipes which are easily followed. 

White Spirit Varnish.- — Rectified spirit, 1 gallon ; gum 
sandarach, 2Jlbs. Put these ingredients into a tin bottle, 
warm gently and shake till dissolved. Then add a pint of 
pale turpentine varnish. 

Shellac Varnish. — Dissolve good shellac or seed lac in 
alcohol, making the varnish of any consistence desired. 
Note. — Shellac gives a pale cinnamon colored varnish. 
Varnish made with seed lac is deeper colored and redder. 
If colorless varnish is desired use bleached shellac, an article 
which is to be had at most drug stores. 

Turpentine Varnish. — Clear pale resin, 51bs.; turpen- 
tine, 71bs. Dissolve in any convenient vessel. 

Varnish for Violins and similar articles. — Sandarach, 
6oz.; mastic, 3oz.; turpentine varnish, ^ pint ; alcohol, 1 



HANDBOOK. 37 

gallon. Keep in a tiglit tin can in a warm place until the 
gums are dissolved. 

White, Hard Varnish for Wood or Jf^j^a^.— Mastic, 2oz.: 
sandarach, 8oz.; elemi, loz.; Strasbourgli or Scio turpentine, 
4oz.; alcohol, 1 quart. 

White Varnish for Paper, Wood or Linen, — Sandarach,. 
8oz.; mastic, 2oz.; Canada balsam, 4oz. ; alcohol, 1 quart. 

Jfas^;^c.— Mastic, 6oz.; turpentine, 1 quart. Tough, hard, 
brilliant and colorless. Excellent for common woodwork. 

Map Varnish, — Clear Canada balsam, 4oz ; turpentine, 
8oz. V>^arm gently and shake until dissolved. Maps, draw- 
ings, etc., which are to be varnished with this solution, 
should be first brushed over with a solution of isinglass and 
allowed to dry thoroughly. 

Varnish for Bright Iron-work. — Dissolve 31bs. of resin 
in 10 pints boiled linseed oil and add 21bs. of turpentine. 

Black Varnish for Iron-work. — Fuse 40oz. of asphaltum 
and add J a gallon of boiled linseed oil, 6oz. red lead, 6oz. 
litharge, and 4oz. sulphate of zinc, dried and powdered. 
Boil for 2 hours and mix in 8oz. fused dark amber gum and 
a pint of hot linseed oil and boil again for 2 hours more. 
When the mass has thickened withdraw the heat and thin 
down with a gallon of turpentine. 

Waterproofing. 

Porous goods are made waterproof according to two very 
distinct systems. According to the first the articles are made 
absolutely impervious to water and air by having their pores 
filled up with some oily or gummy substance, which becomes 
stifi^and impenetrable. Caoutchouc, paints, oils, melted wax, 
etc., are of this kind. The other system consists in making 
the fabric repellent to water while it remains quite porous 
and freely admits the passage of air. Goods so prepared 



38 AMATEUR*S. 

will resist any ordinary rain, and we have seen a very por- 
ous fabric stretched over the mouth of a vessel and resist 
the passage of water one or two inches deep. The following 
recipes have been tried and found good. Most of those 
found in the recipe books are worthless. 

To render Leather Water-proof, — 1. Melt together 2oz.of 
Burgundy pitch, 2oz. of soft wax, 2oz. of turpentine, and 1 
pint of raw linseed oil. Lay on with a brush while warm. 

2. Melt 8oz. lard and add loz. powdered resin. This 
mixture remains soft at ordinary temperatures, and is an 
excellent application for leather. 

Water-proof Canvas for Covering Carts, etc. — 9^ gallons 
linseed oil, lib. litharge, lib. umber, boiled together for 24 
hours. May be colored with any paint. Lay on with a 
•brush. 

To Make Sailcloth Impervious to Water, and yet Pliant 
und Durable, — Grind 61bs. English ochre with boiled oil, and 
add lib. of black paint, which mixture forms an indifferent 
black. An ounce of yellow soap, dissolved by heat in half a 
pint of water, is mixed while hot with the paint. This com 
position is laid upon dry canvas as stiff as can conveniently 
be done with the brush. Two days after a second coat of 
ochre and black paint (without any soap) is laid on, and, 
allowing this coat time to dry, the canvas is finished with a 
coat of any desired color. After three days it does not stick 
together when folded up. This is' the formula used in the 
.. British navy yards, and it has given excellent results. We 
have seen a portable boat made of canvas prepared in this 
way and stretched on a skeleton frame. 

The following recipes are intended to be applied to woven 
fabrics, which they leave quite pervious to air but capable 
of resisting water. 

1. Apply a strong solution of soap to the wrong side of 
the cloth, and when dry wash the other side with a solution 
of alum. 



HANDBOOK. 39 

2. Take the material successively through baths of sul- 
ph&te of alumina, of soap and of water ; then dry and 
smother or calender. For the alumina bath, use the ordina- 
ry neutral sulphate of alumina of commerce (concentrated 
ulum cake), dissolving 1 part in 10 of water, which is easily 
done without the application of heat. The soap is best pre- 
pared in this manner : Boil 1 part of light resin, 1 part of 
soda crystals, and 10 of water, till the resin is dissolved ; 
salt the soap out by the addition of ^ part of common salt ; 
dissolve this soap with an equal amount of good palm-oil 
soap in 80 parts of water. The soap bath should be kept hot 
while the goods are passing through it. It is best to have 
three vats alongside of each other, and by a special arrange- 
ment to keep the goods down in the baths. Special care 
should be taken to have the fabric thoroughly soaked in 
the alumina bath. 

3. Drs. Hager and Jacobsen remark that during the last 
few years very good and cheap waterproof goods of this 
description have been manufactured in Berlin, which they 
believe is effected by steeping them first in a bath of sul- 
phate of alumina and of copper, and then into one of water- 
-glass and resin soap. 



40 amateur's 

Freezing Mixtures. 

The temperatures here given are Fahrenheit. When 
ice or snow are not to be had and it is desired to cool any 
solid, liquid or gas, a good freezing mixture is the simplest 
method of accomplishing the object. The following mix- 
tures are the most convenient and efficient : 

1. Nitrate of ammonia, carbonate of soda and water, 
equal parts by weight. The thermometer sinks 57^. 

2. Phosphate of soda, 9 parts ; nitrate of ammonia, 6^ 
parts ; diluted nitric acid, (acid 1 part, water 2 parts,) 4 parts. 
Reduces the temperature 71^ or from 50^ to — 21.^ 

3. Sal ammoniac, 5 parts ; nitrate of potash, 5 parts ; 
sulphate of soda, 8 parts; vi^ater, 16 parts. Reduces the 
temperature 4Q° or from 70° to 24^^. This is one of the 
cheapest, most readily procured, and most convenient of 
mixtures. 

Freezing mixtures are often used when it is required to 
produce a greater degree of cold than can be obtained by 
the mere application of ice. When ice is at hand, as it 
generally is in this country, the following should be used : 

1. Finely pounded ice, 2 parts ; salt 1 part. This mixture 
reduces the temperature to 5°. 

2. Finely pounded ice, 2 parts ; crystallized chloride of 
calcium, 3 parts. Reduces the temperature from 32'^ 
to —40*^. 

3. Finely pounded ice, 7 parts ; diluted nitric acid, 4 
parts. Reduces the temperature from 32° to — 30°. 

In every case the materials should be kept as cool as 
possible. Thus the ice should be pounded in a cooled mor- 
tar with a cooled pestle, and the mixture should be made in 
vessels previously cooled. By attention to these particulars 
it is easy to freeze mercury at any time by means of these 
simple and easily practiced methods, though, of course, the 



HANDBOOK. 41 

modern laboratory is provided with agencies of far greater 
cooling power. 

Paper. 

There are so many purposes to which paper is applied 
that a small volume might be filled with a description of 
them. The following are those which will probably prove 
most useful to the amateur : 

Tracing Paper. — Tracing paper may be purchased so 
cheaply that it is hardly worth while to make it ; and 
there is a very fine, tough kind now in market which may be 
mounted and colored almost like drawing paper. Those 
who desire to prepare some for themselves will find that 
the following directions give a good result. The inventor 
of the process received a medal and premium from the 
Society of Arts for it. 

Open a quire of tough tissue paper, and brush the first 
sheet with a mixture of equal parts of mastic varnish and 
oil of turpentine. Proceed with each sheet similarly and 
dry them on lines by hanging them up singly. As the pro- 
cess goes on, the under sheets absorb a portion of the var- 
nish, and require less than if single sheets were brushed 
separately. The paper, when dry, is quite light and trans- 
parent and may readily be written on with ink. 

Transfer Paper. — This is useful for copying patterns, 
drawings, etc. Designs for scroll saws may be copied very , 
neatly by means of it. It is easily made by rubbing a thin 
but tough unglazed paper with a mixture of lard and lamp- 
black. The copy is made by laying a sheet of the transfer 
or, as it is sometimes called, manifold paper, over a clean 
eheet of drawing or writing paper and over it the drawing 
to be copied. The lines of the drawing are then carefully 
traced with a fine but blunt point and the pressure along 



42 amateur's 

the lines transfers to the clean paper underneath a perfect 
copy. To keep the underside of the drawing or pattern 
clean, a sheet of tissue paper may be placed between it and 
the transfer paper. 

Waxed Paper. — Paper saturated with wax, paraffin or 
stearin is very useful for wrapping up articles which should 
be kept dry and not exposed to the air. Place a sheet of 
stout paper on a heated iron plate, and over this place the 
sheets of unglazed paper — tissue paper does very well — that 
are to be waxed. Enclose the wax or paraffin in a piece of 
muslin and as it melts spread it evenly over the paper. 

Polishing Powders. 

The principal polishing powders are chalk or whiting, 
crocus or rouge, emery, oilstone powder, and putty or tutty, 
which latter consists chiefly of oxide of tin. Other powders, 
such as tripoli, bath brick, sand, etc., are rarely used for 
the finer kinds of work. Emery is so well known that it 
does not need description. 

Chalk or Whiting. — Chalk is a native carbonate of lime, 
consisting of the remains of minute creatures known as for- 
uminifera, and when simply scraped or crushed under a 
hammer or runner, it is sometimes used for polishing such 
soft substances as bone, ivory, etc. As it contains particles 
of silica of varying size, it cuts freely, but is apt to scratch. 
To remove the gritty particles, the chalk is ground, and the 
finer parts separated by washing. It then becomes whiting, 
which is generally sold in lumps. Whiting has very poor 
cutting qualities, and it is therefore used chiefly as plate 
powder for cleaning gold, silver, glass, etc., and for absorb- 
ing grease from metals which have been polished by other 
means. 

Prepared Chalk. — This is a manufactured article, pre- 
ipared by adding a solution of carbonate of soda to a solution 



HANDBOOK. 45 

of chloride of calcium (both cheap salts), so long as a precip- 
itate is thrown down. The solutions should be carefully 
filtered through paper before being mixed, and dust should 
be rigorously excluded. The white powder which falls 
down is carbonate of lime, or chalk, and when carefully 
washed and dried, it forms a most excellent polishing powder 
for the softer metals. The particles are almost impalpable, 
but seem to be crystalline, for they polish quickly and 
smoothly, though they seem to wear away the material so 
little that its form or sharpness is not injured to any per- 
ceptible degree. 

Crocus or Rouge. — These articles are manufactured at 
Liverpool, by persons who make it their sole occupation, in 
the following manner : 

They take crystals of sulphate of iron, (green vitriol or 
copperas,) immediately from the crystallizing vessels, in the 
copperas works there, so as to have them as clean as possi- 
ble ; and instantly put them into crucibles or cast iron pots, 
and expose them to heat, without suffering the smallest par- 
ticle of dust to get in, which would have a tendency to 
scratch the articles to be polished. Those portions which are 
least calcined and are of a scarlet color, are fit to make rouge 
for polishing gold or silver, while those which are calcined, or 
have become red-purple or bluish-purple, form crocus fit for 
polishing brass or steel. Of these, the bluish-purple colored 
parts are the hardest, and are found nearest to the bottom 
of the vessels, and consequently have been exposed to the 
greatest degree of heat. 

Mr, Andrew Ross's mode of preparing Oxide of Iron, — 
Dissolve crystals of sulphate of iron in water ; filter the 
solution to separate some particles of silex which are gen- 
erally present, and sometimes are abundant ; then precipi- 
tate from this filtered solution the protoxide of iron, by the 
addition of a saturated solution of soda, which must also be 



44 amateur's 

filtered. This grey oxide is to be repeatedly washed and 
then dried ; put it in this state into a crucible, and very 
gradually raise it to a dull red heat ; then pour it into a 
dean metal or earthen dish, and while cooling it will absorb 
oxygen from the atmosphere, and acquire a beautiful dark 
Ted color. In this state it is fit for polishing the softer met- 
als, as silver and gold, but will scarcely make any impres- 
;sion on hardened steel or glass. For these latter purposes I 
discovered that it is the black oxide that affected the polish, 
(and this gives to the red oxide a purple hue, which is used 
as the criterion of its cutting quality in ordinary,) therefore 
for polishing the harder materials the oxide must be heated 
rto a bright red, and kept in that state until a sufficient 
quantity of it is converted into black oxide to give the mass 
a deep purple hue when exposed to the atmosphere. I have 
converted the whole into black oxide ; but this is liable to 
scratch, and does not work so pleasantly as when mixed with 
the softer material. The powder must now be levigated 
with a soft wrought iron spatula, upon a soft iron slab, and 
afterwards washed in a very weak solution of gum arable, as 
recommended by Dr. Green in his paper on Specula. The 
-oxide prepared in this manner is almost impalpable, and 
free from all extraneous matter, and has the requisite quality 
in an eminent degree for polishing steel, glass, the softer 
gems, etc. 

Lord Boss's Mode of preparing the Peroxide of Iron. — 
" I prepare the peroxide of iron by precipitation with water of 
ammonia from a pure dilute solution of sulphate of iron ; 
the precipitate is washed, pressed in a screw-press till nearly 
dry, and exposed to a heat which in the dark appears a dull 
low red. The only points of importance are, that the sul- 
phate of iron should be pure, that the water of ammonia 
should be decidedly in excess, and that the heat should 
not exceed that I have described. The color will be a 



HANDBOOK. 45 

bright crimson inclining to yellow. I have tried both soda 
and potash, pure, instead of water of ammonia, but after 
washing with some degree of care, a trace of the alkali still 
remained, and the peroxide was of an ochrey color till over- 
heated, and did not polish properly." 

Oilstone Powder, — Fragments of oilstone, when pulver- 
ized, sifted and washed, are much in request by mechanicians. 
This abrasive is generally preferred for grinding together 
those fittings of mathematical instruments and machinery, 
which are made wholly or in part of brass or gun metal, for 
oilstone being softer and more pulverulent than emery, is 
less liable to become embedded in the metal than emery, 
which latter is then apt continually to grind, and ultimately 
damage the accuracy of the fittings of brass works. In mod- 
ern practice it is usual, however, as far as possible, to dis- 
card the grinding together of surfaces, with the view of 
producing accuracy of form, or precision of contact. 

Oilstone powder is preferred to pumice-stone powder for 
polishing superior brass works, and it is also used by the 
watchmaker on rubbers of pewter in polishing steel. 

Pumice-stone Powder, — Pumice-stone is a volcanic pro- 
duct, and is obtained principally from the Campo Bianco, 
one of the Lipari islands, which is entirely composed of 
this substance. It is extensively employed in various 
branches of the arts, and particularly in the state of powder, 
for polishing the various articles of cut glass ; it is also 
extensively used in dressing leather, and in grinding and 
polishing the surface of metallic plates, etc. 

Pumice-stone is ground or crushed under a runner, and 
sifted, and in this state it is used for brass and other metal 
works, and also for japanned, varnished and painted goods, 
for which latter purposes it is generally applied on woolen 
<5loths with water. 

Putty Powder is the pulverized oxide of tin, or gener- 



46 amateur's 

ally of tin and lead mixed in various proportions. The pro- 
cess of manufacture is alike in all cases, — the metal is 
oxidized in an iron muffle, or a rectangular box, close on 
all sides, except a square hole in the front side. The retort 
is surrounded by fire, and kept at a red heat, so that its 
contents are partially ignited, and they are continually 
stirred to expose fresh portions to the heated air ; the pro- 
cess is complete when the fluid metal entirely disappears, 
and the upper part of the oxide then produced, sparkles 
somewhat like particles of incandescent charcoal. The oxide 
is then removed with ladles, and spread over the bottom of 
large iron cooling pans and allowed to cool. The lumps of 
oxide which are as hard as marble, are then selected from 
the mass and ground dry under the runner ; the putty pow- 
der is afterwards carefully sifted through lawn. 

As a criterion of quality it may be said that the whitest 
putty powder is the purest, provided it be heavy. Some of 
the common kinds are brown and yellow, while others, from 
the intentional admixture of a little ivory black, are known 
as grey putty. The pure white putty which is used by mar- 
ble workers, opticians and some others, is the smoothest and 
most cutting ; it should consist of the oxide of tin alone, but 
to lessen the difficulty of manufacture, a very little lead, (the 
linings of tea chests,) or else an alloy called shruff, (pre- 
pared in ingots by the pewterers) is added to assist the 
oxidation. 

The putty powder of commerce of good fair quality, is 
made of about equal parts of tin and lead, or tin and shruflf ; 
the common dark colored kinds are prepared of lead only, 
but these are much harsher to the touch, and altogether 
inferior. 

Perhaps the most extensive use of putty powder, is in 
glass and marble works, but the best kind serves admirably 
as plate powder, and for the general purposes of polishing. 



HANDBOOK. 4-7 

Putty Powder for fine optical purposes is prepared by 
Mr. A. Ross by the following method, w4iich is the result 
of many experiments. Metallic tin is dissolved in nitro- 
muriatic acid, and precipitated from the filtered solution by 
liquid ammonia, both fluids being largely diluted with wa- 
ter. The peroxide of tin is then washed in abundance of 
water, collected in a cloth filter, and squeezed as dry asf 
possible in a piece of new clean linen ; the mass is now sub- 
jected to pressure in a screw-press, or between lever boards, 
to make it as dry as possible. When the lump thus pro- 
duced has been broken in pieces and dried in the air, it is 
finally levigated while dry, on a plate of glass with an iron 
spatula, and afterwards exposed in a crucible to a low white 
heat. 

Before the peroxide has been heated, or while it is in 
the levigated hydrous state, the putty powder possesses but 
little cutting quality, as under the microscope, the particles 
then appear to have no determined form, or to heamorpJiouSf 
and on being wetted, to resume the gelatinous condition of 
the hydrous precipitate, so as to be useless for polishing ; 
whereas when the powder is heated, to render it anhydrous, 
most of the particles take their natural form, that of lam- 
ellar crystals, and act with far more energy, (yet without 
scratching) than any of the ordinary polishing powders. 
The whole mass requires to be washed or elutriated in the 
usual manner after having been heated, in order to separate 
the coarser particles. 

Mr. Ross usually adds a little crocus to the putty powder 
by way of coloring matter, as it is then easier to learn the 
quantity of powder that remains on the polishing tool, and 
it may be added that this is the polishing powder employed 
by Mr. Ross in making his improved achromatic object 
glasses for astronomical telescopes. 



48 amateur's 

Signal and Colored Lights. 

The following recipes are from the United States Ord- 
nance Manual, and may be considered reliable. The com- 
position for signal lights is packed in shallow vessels of 
large diameter so as to expose considerable surface. Where 
the burning surface is large, the light attains great intensity, 
but the material burns out rapidly. In arranging the size 
and shape of the case, therefore, regard must be had to the 
time the light is expected to burn and the brilliancy that is 
wanted. [See caution at end of this article.] 

Bengal Light. — Antimony, 2 ; sulphur, 4 ; mealed powder, 
4 ; nitrate of soda, 16. 

Blue. — Black sulphuret of antimony, 1 ; sulphur, 2 ; 
pure nitre, 6. Grind to a very fine powder and mix thor- 
oughly. See that the nitre is perfectly dry. This compo- 
sition gives a bluish white light ; a deeper blue may be had 
by the addition of a little finely pulverized zinc. 

Bed. — 1. Saltpetre, 5 ; sulphur, 6 ; nitrate of strontia, 
20 ; lampblack, 1. 

2. Nitrate of strontia, 20 ; chlorate of potassa, 8 ; sulphur, 
6 ; charcoal, 1. 

White. — Saltpetre, 16 ; sulphur, 8 ; mealed powder, 4. 
Grind to a very fine powder and mix well. 

The following have been very highly recommended : 

Crimson Fire. — Sulphide of antimony, 4 ; chlorate of pot- 
assa, 5 ; powdered roll brimstone, 13 ; dry nitrate of stron- 
tia, 40 parts. 

A very little charcoal added to the above makes it burn 
quicker. 

Green Fire. — Fine charcoal, 3 ; sulphur, 13 ; chlorate of 
potassa, 8 ; nitrate of baryta, 77. 

White. — 1. Nitrate of potassa (saltpetre), 24; sulphur 
7 ; charcoal, 1. 



ha:n"I>book. 4:9 

2. Nitre, 6 ; sulphur, 2 ; yellow sulpliuret of arsenic, 1. 
[Note. — This light is a very brilliant one and a very pure 
white, but the fumes are highly poisonous. It should be 
used only in the open air and the wind should blow the 
vapors away from the spectators — not towards them.] 

3. Chlorate of potash, 10 ; nitre, 5 ; lycopodium, 3 ; char- 
coal 2. 

4. Metallic magnesium in the form of ribbon or wire. 
This is the best and most easily used. It may be purchased 
of most dealers in chemicals. A few inches of magnesium 
ribbon coiled into a spiral (like a spiral spring) and ignited 
by means of a spirit lamp or even by a little tuft of cotton 
soaked in alcohol and fired with a lucifer match, makes a 
light of surpassing brilliancy and power. It requires a slight 
knack to ignite the ribbon. Hold the end of it steadily in 
the outer edge of the flame and it will soon take fire. The 
light given out by a small ribbon of magnesium is clearly 
visible at a distance of thirty miles. " 

Lights for Indoor Illuminations. — Many of the above are 
unfit for indoor exhibitions owing to the amount of sul- 
phurous gas given off. For tableaux in churches, schools 
and private houses, the best light is undoubtedly magnesium 
or, where it can be had, the lime light (sometimes, though 
erroneously, called the calcium light). Both of these lights 
are very powerful, and any color may be obtained by the 
use of pieces of differently colored glass. A very effective 
arrangement consists of a tin box, which may be made out 
of one of those cases in which crackers are imported. Pro- 
cure good-sized pieces of red and blue glass, the red being a 
soft, warm tint, such as will add a richness to the complex- 
ions of those upon whom the light is thrown. Arrange one 
end of the tin box so that these glasses may be slipped over 
a large hole in it. The opposite end of the box should be 
highly polished so as to act as a reflector, and a hole should 



so amateur's 

be cut in one side so as to allow of the introduction of the 
magnesium. 

In every case the burning matter should be so shaded 
that it may not be seen by the audience. If the direct light 
from the burning body meets the eyes of the spectators the 
reflected light from the objects composing the tableau will 
have no effect. 

Where arrangements for lime or magnesium lights can- 
not be made, the following may be used. 

White. — Chlorate of potash, 12 ; nitre, 5 ; finely powdered 
loaf sugar, 4 ; lycopodium, 2. 

Qveen, — Nitrate of baryta, shellac and chlorate of pot- 
assa, all finely powdered, equal parts by bulk. 

B,ed, — Nitrate of strontia, shellac and chlorate of potassa, 
all finely powdered, equal parts by bulk. 

The brilliancy of these fires will depend largely upon the 
thoroughness with which the materials are finely powdered 
and mixed. {See caution at end of this article.'] 

Braunschweizer recommends the following formula as 
giving excellent results, the lights being good without pro- 
ducing injurious fumes: 

Bed. — Nitrate of strontia, 9 ; shellac, 3 ; chlorate of pot- 
assa IJ. 

Green. — Nitrate of baryta, 9 ; shellac, 3 ; chlorate of pot- 
assa, -L'2'* 

Blue. — Ammoniacal sulphate of copper, 8 ; chlorate of 
potassa, 6 ; shellac, 1 . 

GhostSy Demons; Spectres and Murderers. — To give a 
ghastly hue to the faces of the actors, the best light is that 
produced by some salt of soda, common salt being very good. 
We have succeeded well in this way : A piece of wire gauze 
such as ash-sifters are made of, and about a foot square was 
supported at a height of about a foot from the floor, which 
was protected by a sheet of iron. On the wire gauze were 



HANDBOOK, 51 

laid twenty-five wads of cotton waste which had been soaked 
in a solution of common salt, dried and dipped in alcohol 
just before being laid on the wire. When these were ignited 
we had twenty-five powerful flames all tinged with sodium 
and burning freely, as the air rose readily among them 
through the wire grating. Such a flame produces quite a 
powerful light and gives a death-like appearance to even 
the most rosy- cheeked girl. 

The following give a strong light and produce a most 
ghastly effect : 

1. Nitrate of soda, 10 ; chlorate of potash, 10 ; sulphide 
of antimony, 3 ; shellac, 4. The materials must be warm 
and dry, and as the nitrate of soda attracts moisture rapidly 
it must be well dried, then finely powdered as quickly as 
possible and kept in well-corked bottles. As this gives off* 
a good deal of sulphurous fumes, the following may be pre- 
ferred where the ventilation is not good : 

2. Nitrate of soda, 10 ; chlorate of potassa, 15 ; white 
sugar finely powdered, 5 ; lycopodium, 2. 

CAUTION. 

In using chlorate of potassa the greatest care is necessary. 
It may be powdered and otherwise handled safely when 
alone, but when combustible matter of any kind is added to 
it the mixture becomes highly explosive and must be very 
gently handled. It must therefore be powdered separately 
and only mixed with the other ingredients after they have 
been powdered. The mixing should be done on a large 
sheet of paper, very gently, but very thoroughly, with a 
thin, broad-bladed knife. 

Mixtures of chlorate of potash with sulphur, sulphurets, 
and especially phosphorus, are liable to explode spontane- 
ously after a time, and should never be kept on hand. They 
should be made as wanted. 



MISCELLANEOUS EECIPES. 



To remote the Blue Color imparted to Iron and Steel by 
exposure to Heat. — Rub lightly with a sponge or rag dipped 
in diluted sulphuric, nitric, or hydrochloric acid. When the 
discoloration is removed, carefully wash the article, dry it by 
rubbing, warm it and give a coat of oil or it will rapidly 
rust. 

Size for Impromng poor Drawing Paper, — Take loz. of 
white glue, loz. of white soap and ^oz. of alum. Soak the 
glue and the soap in water until they appear like jelly ; then 
simmer in 1 quart of water until the whole is melted. Add 
the alum, simmer again and filter. To be applied hot. 

To fix Pencil Marks so they will not rub out. — Take well- 
skimmed milk and dilute with an equal bulk of water. 
Wash the pencil marks, (whether writing or drawing,) with 
this liquid, using a soft camel-hair flat brush, and avoiding 
all rubbing. Place upon a flat board to dry. 

Cure for Burns. — A solution of bicarbonate of soda ap- 
plied to burns, promptly and permanently relieves all pain. 
A laboratory assistant in Philadelphia having severely burned 
the inside of the last joint of his thumb while bending glass 
tubing, applied the solution of bicarbonate of soda, and not 
only was the pain allayed but the thumb could be at once 
freely used without inconvenience. Bicarbonate of soda is 
simply the best baking soda. 

Care of Looking Glasses. — When looking glasses are ex- 
posed to the direct rays of the sun or to very strong heat from 



HANDBOOK. 53 

a fire the amalgam is apt to crystallize and the mirror loses 
its brilliancy. If a mirror is placed where the rays of the 
sun can strike it, it should be covered in that part of the 
day during which it is exposed. 

The best method of cleaning looking glasses is as follows : 
Take a newspaper, fold it small, dip it in a basin of clean 
cold water. When thoroughly wet squeeze it out as you do 
a sponge ; then rub it pretty hard all over the surface of the 
glass, taking care that it is not so wet as to run down in 
streams ; in fact, the paper must only be completely moist- 
ened or dampened all through. Let it rest a few minutes, 
then go over the glass with a piece of fresh newspaper till it 
looks clear and bright. The insides of windows may be 
cleaned in the same way ; also spectacle glasses, lamp-glasses, 
etc. White paper that has not been printed on is better ; but 
in the absence of that a very old newspaper, on which the 
ink has become thoroughly dried, should be used. Writing 
paper will not answer. 

Laundry Gloss, — Various recipes have been given for im- 
parting a fine gloss to linen. Gum arabic, white wax, sper- 
maceti, etc., have all been highly recommended and are, no 
doubt, useful to a certain extent, but the great secret seems 
to lie in the quality of the iron used and the skill of the laun- 
dress. If the iron is hard, close grained and finely polished, 
the work will be much easier. Laundresses always have a 
favorite smoothing iron with which they do most of their 
work, and many of them have the front edge of the iron 
rounded so that great pressure can be brought to bear on a 
very small spot instead of being spread over a space the size 
of the whole face of the iron. If smoothing irons have be- 
come rough and rusty it will pay to send them to a grinder 
to have them not only ground but buffed, {see article on Pol- 
ishing Metals), The greatest care should be taken not to al- 
low them to get spotted with rust and they should never ba 
'* brightened " with coarse sand, ashes, emery, etc. If it is^ 



amateur's 

necessary to polish them, rub them on a board, or preferably 
a piece of leather charged with the finest flour of emery, 
obtained by washing, or better still, jeweller's rouge, 

Kalsomine, — Professors of the "Art of Kalsomining" 
aflect a great deal of mystery, but the process is very sim- 
ple. It consists simply in making a whitewash with some 
neutral substance which is made to adhere by means of size 
or glue. It contains no caustic material like lime. Several 
substances have been used with good results. The best is 
zinc white. It gives the most brilliant effect but is the most 
expensive. The next is Paris white or sulphate of baryta. 
This, when pure, is nearly equal to zinc white, but unfortu- 
nately common whiting is often sold for it and more often 
mixed with it. It is not difficult, however, to detect common 
whiting either when alone or mixed with Paris white. When 
vinegar or better still, spirits of salt, is poured on whiting it 
foams or effervesces, but produces no effect on Paris white. 
Good whiting, however, gives very fair results and makes a 
far better finish than common lime. 

With any one of these three substances, or a mixture of 
them, a good whitewash or kalsomine may be prepared as 
follows : Select some very clear colorless glue and soak Jib. 
in water for 12 hours. Then boil it, taking great care that 
it does not burn, and this is best done by setting the vessel 
with the glue in a pan of water over the fire. When com- 
pletely dissolved add it to a large pail of hot water and into 
any desired quantity of this stir as much of the white material 
used as will make a cream. The quality of the resulting 
work will depend on the skill of the operator, but we may 
remark that it is easier to get a smooth hard finish by using 
three coats of thin wash than by using one coat of thick. 
If you have time for but one coat, however, you must give 
it body enough. In giving more than one coat let the last 
coat contain less glue than the preceding ones 



HANDBOOK. 55 

To Stain Dried Grass. — There are few prettier ornaments, 
and none more economical and lasting, than bouquets of 
dried grasses mingled with the various unchangeable flow- 
ers. They have but one fault, and that is this, the want of 
other colors besides yellow and drab or brown. To vary 
their shade artificially these flowers are sometimes dyed green. 
This, however, is in bad taste and unnatural. The best 
effect is produced by blending rose and red tints together, 
and with a very little pale blue with the grasses and flowers 
as they dry naturally. The best means of dyeing dried 
leaves, flowers and grasses is to dip them into the alcoholic 
solution of the various compounds of aniline. Some of these 
have a beautiful rose shade ; others red, blue, orange and 
purple. The depth of color can be regulated by diluting, if 
necessary, the original dyes, with alcohol, down to the shade 
desired. When taken out of the dye they should be ex- 
posed to the air to dry off the alcohol. They then require 
arranging or setting into form, as, when wet, the petals and 
fine filaments have a tendency to cling together. A pink 
saucer, as sold by most druggists, will supply enough rose 
dye for two ordinary bouquets. The pink saucer yields the 
best rose dy« by washing it off with water and lemon juice. 
The anilin«e dy«s yield the best violet, mauve and purple 
colors. 



56 amateur's 

Amalgamating Zincs for Voltaic Batteries, — When the- 
zincs are new and uncorroded, this is an easy process. Dip 
the zincs in dilute sulphuric acid (8 parts water and 1 of acid) 
and rub them with mercury. The mercury will adhere quite 
readily and render the entire surface brilliant and silvery. 
But when the zincs are old and corroded it will be found that 
the mercury does not adhere to some parts. In such cases 
wash the surface of the zinc with a solution of nitrate of 
mercury and it will become coated with amalgam. Once the 
surface is touched, it is easy to add as much mercury as may 
be desired by simply rubbing on the liquid metal. 

The coating of mercury adds greatly to the durability 
of the zincs, as when so prepared the acid will not act on 
them except when the current is passing, and from the ex« 
cellent condition of the entire surface the power of the bat- 
tery is greatly increased. 

Amber, to Unite Broken Pieces. — Coat with linseed oil 
the surfaces that are to be joined ; hold the oiled parts care- 
fully over a charcoal fire, a few hot cinders or a gaslight, 
being careful to cover up all the rest of the object loosely 
with paper. When the oiled parts have begun to feel the 
heat so as to be sticky, press and clamp them together and 
keep them so until nearly cold. Only that part where the 
edges are to be united must be warmed, and even that with 
care lest the form or polish of the other parts should be dis- 
turbed ; the part where the joint occurs generally requires 
to be repolished. , 

Arsenical Preseiwatim Powder. — This is dusted over 
moist skins and flesh, and preserves almost any animal mat- 
ter from putrefaction. It is thus made : Arsenic, 4oz ; burnt 
alum, 4oz ; tanner's bark, 8oz ; mix and grind together to a 
very fine powder. 

Arsenical Soap. — This is the most powerful preservative 
in use. It is a strong poison, but is invaluable for preserv- 



HANDBOOK. 57 

ing skins of birds and beasts that are to be stuffed. It is 
made thus : Powdered arsenic, 2oz ; camphor, 5oz ; white 
soap,2oz ; salt of tartar (sub-carbonate of potash), 6 drachms ; 
powdered lime 2 drachms. Cut the soap in very thin slices 
and heat gently with a small quantity of water, stirring all 
the time with a stick. When thoroughly melted add the 
salt of tartar and the lime. When these are well mixed to- 
gether add the arsenic, which must be carefully incorporated 
with the other ingredients. Take the mixture off the fire 
and while cooling add the camphor, previously reduced to 
powder by rubbing it with a little alcohol. When finished 
the soap should be of the consistence of thick cream and 
should be kept in a tightly stopped bottle. 

Black Varnish for Cast Iron. — For those objects to 
which it is applicable, one of the best black varnishes is ob- 
tained by applying boiled linseed oil to the iron, the latter 
being heated to a temperature that will just char or blacken 
the oil. The oil seems to enter into the pores of the iron, 
and after such an application the metal resists rust and cor- 
rosive agents very perfectly. 

Black Varnish for Optical Work. — The external surfaces 
of brass and iron are generally blacked or bronzed with 
compositions given under the head of lacquers. The insides 
of the tubes of telescopes and microscopes should be coated 
with a dead black varnish so as to absorb the light and pre- 
vent any glare. The varnish that is generally used for this 
purpose consists of lampblack, made liquid by means of a 
very thin solution of shellac in alcohol, but such varnish, even 
when laid on warm metal, is very apt to scale off and thus 
produce two serious evils — the exposure of the bright metal- 
lic surface, and the deposit of specks on the lenses. It will 
therefore be found that lampblack, carefully ground in tur- 
pentine, to which about a fifth of its volumjB of gold size or 
boiled linseed oil has been added, will adhere much more 



58 amateur's 

firmly. The metal should be warm when the varnish is ap- 
plied. 

Cat-gut. — This material is so valuable for many purposes 
that amateur mechanics will find it useful to know how to 
make it. The process is quite simple. Take the entrails of 
sheep or other animals, remembering that fat animals afford 
a very weak string, while those that are lean produce a 
much tougher article, and thoroughly clean them from 
all impurities, attached fat, etc. The animal should be 
newly killed. Wash well in clean water and soak in 
soft water for two days, or in winter for three days ; lay 
them on a table or board and scrape them with a small plate 
of copper having a semicircular hole cut in it, the edges of 
which must be quite smooth and not capable of cutting. 
After washing put them into fr«sh water and there let them 
remain till the next day, when they are to be well scraped. 
Let them soak again in water for a night, and two or three 
hours before they are taken out add to each gallon of water 
2oz. of potash. They ought now to scrape quite clean from 
their inner mucous coat, and will consequently be much 
smaller in dimensions than at first. They may now be wiped 
dry, slightly twisted, and passed through a hole in a piece 
of brass to equalize their size ; as they dry they are passed 
every two or three hours through other holes, each smallei 
than the last. When dry they will be round and well pol- 
ished, and after being oiled are fit for use. 

Coral, Artificial. — Twigs, raisin stalks and any objects 
having the general outline of branched coral may be made 
to resemble that material by being dipped in a mixture of 
4 parts resin, 3 parts beeswax and 2 parts vermilion, melted 
together and thoroughly mixed. The effect is very pretty, 
and for ornamental work such imitation coral, is very 
useful. 

Dresses — To Render Fire Proof. — Some years ago Queen 



HANDBOOK. 59 

Victoria appointed a commission to investigate this subject. 
It was found that there were but four salts which were ap- 
plicable to light fabrics : 1, Phosphate of ammonia ; 2, a 
mixture of phosphate of ammonia and chloride of ammonia ; 
3, sulphate of ammonia ;* 4, tungstate of soda. Of these, the 
best was tungstate of soda, a salt which is not by any means 
expensive. Sulphate of ammonia is objectionable, from the 
fact that it acts on the irons and moulds the fabric. The 
tungstate of soda is neither injurious to the texture or color, 
or in any degree diflBlcult of application in the washing pro- 
cess. The iron passes over the material quite as smoothly 
as if no solution had been employed. The solution increases 
the stiffness of the fabric, and its protecting power against 
fire is perfect. This salt offers only one difficulty, viz. : the 
formation of a bitungstate, of little solubility, which crystal- 
lizes from the solution ; but it was found that a very small 
percentage of phosphate of soda rendered the tungstate quite 
stable. The best method of applying these salts is to take 
one ounce of tungstate of soda and a quarter of an ounce of 
phosphate of soda, and dissolve them in a quart of water. 
The goods are moistened with this solution before being 
fitarched, and they may be afterwards ironed and finished 
without the least difficulty. 

Articles prepared in this way are perfectly uninflamma- 
ble. They may be charred by exposure to fire, but they do 
not burn readily unless there is some extraneous source of 
heat, and they can not be made to burst into flame. By the 
:aid of this discovery, a lady dressed in the lightest muslin 
might walk over a row of footlights, and the only result 
would be that the lower part of her dress would be injured. 
Unless her person actually came in contact with the gas 
flames, she herself would suffer no injury. In country 
places, where tungstate of soda cannot be procured, a mix- 
ture of three parts borax, and two and a half parts sulphate 



GO 

of magnesia, in twenty parts of water, may be used witb 
good eflPect. 

Glass-'pa^er. — Paper coated with glass is known by this 
name just as paper coated with fine sharp sand is called 
sand-paper, and paper coated with emery is called emery 
paper. Paper or a cheap cloth is coated with thinnish glue, 
dusted heavily and evenly with glass-powder of the proper 
fineness, and allowed to become nearly dry. The superflu 
ous powder is then shaken off, the sheets are pressed ta * 
make them even and afterwards thoroughly dried. 

The objection to ordinary glass-paper is that it is easily 
injured by heat and moisture. If the glue be mixed with a 
little bichromate of potassa before it is applied to the cloth, 
and exposed for some time to strong bright sunshine while it 
is drying, it will becom-e insoluble in water. 

The glue may also be rendered insoluble by the process 
of tanning. The paper or cloth is first soaked in a solution 
of tannic acid and dried. The glue is then applied, the pow- 
dered glass dusted on, and over it is dusted a little tannic acid. 
If the glue be not very moist, it should be damped by means 
of an atomizer, a very cheap form of which is figured in The 
Young Scientist, Vol. II. The sheets are then slowly dried 
and will be found to resist moisture very thoroughly. 

Glass — To Powder. — Powdered glass is frequently used 
instead of paper, cloth, cotton or sand for filtering varnishes,, 
acids, etc. It is not soluble or corrodible. Sand, if purely 
silicious, would be better, but such sand is difficult to get ; 
it too often contains matters which are easily corroded or 
dissolved. Powdered glass when glued to paper is also used 
for polishing wood and other materials. It cuts rapidly and 
cleanly, and is better than sand for most purposes. Glass is 
easily pulverized after being heated red hot and plunged 
into cold water. It cracks in every direction, becomes hard 
and brittle and breaks with keenly cutting edges. After 



HANDBOOK. 61 

being pounded in a mortar it may be divided into powders 
of different degrees of fineness by being sifted through lawn 
sieves. 

Glass — Imitation Ground.— F\xt a piece of putty in mus- 
lin, twist the fabric tight, and tie it into the shape of a pad ; 
well clean the glass first, and then putty it all over. The 
;.fe,putty will exude sufficiently through the muslin to render 
the stain opaque. Let it dry hard, and then varnish. If a 
pattern is required, cut it out in paper as a stencil ; place it 
so as not to slip, and proceed as above, removing the stencil 
when finished. If there should be any objection to the ex- 
istence of the clear spaces, cover with slightly opaque var- 
nish. In this way very neat and cheap signs may be painted 
-on glass doors. 

Glass Ware — Packing. — Every one has this duty to per- 
form occasionally, and it is well to know how it should be 
done. The safety of glass articles packed together in a box 
does not depend so much upon the quantity of packing ma- 
terial used, as upon the fact that no two pieces of glass come 
into actual contact. In packing plates, a single straw placed 
between two of them will prevent them from breaking each 
other. In packing bottles in a case, such as the collecting 
case of the microscopist, and the test case of the chemist, 
rubber rings slipped over each, will be found the best and 
handiest packing material. They have this great advantage 
that they do not give rise to dust. 

Glue — Portable. — Put a pinch of shredded gelatine into a 
wide-mouthed bottle ; put on it a very little water, and 
about one-fourth part of glacial acetic acid ; put in a well- 
fitting cork. If the right quantity of water and acid be 
used, the gelatine will swell up into worm-like pieces, quite 
elastic, but at the same time, firm enough to be handled 
comfortably. The acid will make the preparation keep in- 
definitely. When required for use, take a small fragment 



62 amateur's 

of the swelled gelatine, and warm tlie end of it in the flame 
of a match or candle; it will immediately ''run ", into a fine 
clear glue, which can be applied at once direct to the article 
to be mended. The thing is done in half a minute, and is, 
moreover, done well, for the gelatine so treated makes the 
very best and finest glue that can be had. This plan might be 
modified by dissolving a trace of chrome alum in the water 
used for moistening the gelatine, in which case, no doubt, the 
glue would become insoluble when set. But for general 
purposes, there is no need for subsequent insolubility in glue. 

Javelle Water. — Take 41bs. carbonate of soda, and lib. 
chloride of lime ; put the soda into a kettle, add 1 gallon of 
boiling water and boil for from 10 to 15 minutes ; then stir 
in the chloride of lime, breaking down all lumps with a 
wooden spatula or stirrer. Pour into large glass bottles ; 
when cold and settled it will be ready for use. 

This forms a very efl&cient bleaching liquid, and one 
which it is not difficult to remove from the bleached fabric. 
Old and stained engravings and books, as well as linen and 
cotton goods that have become yellow with dirt and age, may 
be rendered snowy white by the application of this liquid. 

Jewelry — Gleaning. — Ordinary gold jewelry may be effect- 
ual]y cleansed by washing with soap and warm water, rins- 
ing in cold water and drying in warm box- wood saw-dust. 
Plain, smooth surfaces may be rubbed with chamois leather 
charged either with rouge or prepared chalk, but the less 
rubbing the better. 

Silver is liable to tarnish by the action of sulphur, and 
where there is fine chased or engraved work the extreme 
delicacy of the lines may be injured by much rubbing. In 
such cases the articles may be cleaned by washing with a^ 
solution of hyposulphite of soda. Cyanide of potassium is 
a more powerful cleansing agent but is very poisonous. 

Painting Bright Metals. — When paint is applied to bright 



HAiTDBOOK. 63 

metals like tin oT zinc, it is very apt to peel off. This diffi- 
culty is greatly lessened if the metal be hot when the paint 
is applied, but in many cases this cannot be done. In such 
cases the surface of the metal should be corroded for which 
purpose a solution of sulphate of copper, acidulated with 
nitric acid, answers well. The metal should be washed with 
the solution, allowed to stand a couple of hours and then 
washed with clean water and dried. 

Pillows for the Sick-Boom, — Save all your scraps of 
writing paper, old envelopes, old notes of no use for keep- 
ing, old backs of notes, etc. Cut them into strips about 
|- inch wide and 2 inches long, and curl them well with 
an old pen-knife. Make a pillow case of any materials 
you have ; fill it with your curled paper mixed with a few 
shreds of flannel. Stuff it quite full, sew up the end and 
cover as you please. These pillows are invaluable in cases 
of fever, as they keep constantly cool and allow a circula- 
tion of air. 

Sieves for the Laboratory. — It is often desirable to sift 
powders into different degrees of fineness, and very fine 
sieves are not always to be easily had. Those made of hair 
and wire answer well, but the finest may be made out of the 
bolting cloth used by millers. 

Silvering Glass Mirrors for Optical Purposes, — This is 
best effected by depositing pure silver on the glass. The 
light reflected from a mirror made thus has somewhat of a 
yellowish tinge, but photometric experiments show that 
from 25 to 30 per cent more light is reflected than from the 
old mercurial mirrors. 

Where ammonium, aldehyde can. be obtained, there is no 
doubt that this is the best and most economical process, 
whether used on a large or a small scale. But those who- 
have not had considerable experience in the laboratory can- 
not always prepare this compound. 



64 amateur's 

The next best process is based upon the reduction of 
metallic silver from its ammoniacal solution by salts of tar- 
tar. After a trial of several formulae of this kind, all oi 
them more or less simple, as well as efficacious, the follow- 
ing has been found to yield the best results in the shortest 
time. 

Silvering Solution. — In 1 ounce of distilled or pure rain 
water, dissolve 48 grains of crystalized nitrate of silver. 
Precipitate by adding strongest water of ammonia, and con- 
tinue to add the ammonia drop by drop, stirring the solution 
with a glass rod, until the brown precipitate is nearly, but 
not quite, redissolved. Filter, and add distilled water to 
make 12 fluid drachms. 

Reducing Solution. — Dissolve in 1 ounce of distilled oi 
very clean rain water, 12 grains of potassium and sodium 
tartrate (Rochelle or Seignette salts). Boil, in a flask, and 
while boiling add 2 grains crystalized nitrate of silver disr 
solved in 1 drachm of water. Continue the boiling five or 
six minutes. Let cool, filter, and add distilled water to make 
12 fluid drachms. 

To Silver. — Provision must be made for supporting the 
glass in a perfectly horizontal position at the surface of the 
liquid. This is best done by cementing to the face of the 
mirror three nice hooks by which it may be hung from a 
temporary frame work — easily made out of a few sticks. 

The glass to be silvered must be cleansed by immersing 
it in strong nitric acid, washing in liquor potassae, and thor- 
oughly rinsing with distilled water. If the glass has had 
mercurial amalgam on it, it will probably be necessary to 
clean the back with rouge. On having this surface per- 
fectly, chemically clean, depends in a great measure the suc- 
'Cess of the operation. 

Having arranged the contrivance for suspending the 
^lass so that it may be at exactly the right height in the 



HANDBOOK. 65 

vessel that is to receive the solution, remove this vessel and 
pour into it enough of equal quantities of the two solutions 
to fill it exactly to the previously ascertained level. Stir 
the solutions so that they will become thoroughly mixed, 
and replace the glass to be silvered, taking great care that 
the surface to be silvered shall come in contact with the 
silvering fluid exactly at all points. The glass plate should 
be rinsed carefully before replacing, and should be put in 
while wet. Great care should be taken that no air bubbles 
remain on the surface of the solution, or between it and the 
surface to be silvered. 

Now set the vessel in the sun for a few minutes, if the 
weather be warm, or by the fire, if it be cold, as a tempera- 
ture of 45o to 50o C. (113o to 122o Fah.) is most conducive 
to the rapid deposition of a brilliant, firm and even film of 
silver. The fluid in the sunlight soon becomes inky black, 
gradually clearing as the silver is reduced, until when ex- 
hausted it is perfectly clear. The mirror should be removed 
before this point is reached, as a process of bleaching sets 
up if left after the fluid is exhausted. From 20 to 80 min- 
utes, according to the weather, purity of chemicals, etc., is 
required for the entire process. 

When the mirror is removed from the bath, it should be 
<5arefully rinsed with distilled water from the wash bottle, 
and laid on its edge on blotting paper to dry. When per- 
fectly dry, the back should be varnished with some elastic 
varnish and allowed to dry. The wires and cement can now 
be removed from the face, and the glass cleaned with a lit- 
tle fledget of cotton and a minute drop of nitric acid, taking 
great care that the acid does not get to the edges or under 
the varnish. Rinse, dry and the mirror is finished. 

Water-stains, To Memove from Engravings or Paper, — 
Fill a large vessel with pure water and dip the engraving 
in, waving it backward and forward until thoroughly wet 



66 amateur's 

Then spread a sheet of clean white paper on a drawing" 
board, lay the engraving on it and fasten both to the board 
with drawing pins. Expose it to bright sunshine, keeping 
it moist until the stains disappear, which will not be long. 
This is simply a modification of the old system of bleaching 
linen. 

Wax — to Bleach. — Bees- wax is obtained by washing and 
melting. The comb is yellow. Wax is freed from its impu- 
rities, and bleached by melting it with hot water or steam, 
in a tinned copper or wooden vessel, letting it settle, run- 
ning it off into an oblong trough with a line of holes in its 
bottom, so as to distribute it upon horizontal wooden cylin- 
ders made to revolve half immersed in cold water, and then 
exposing the thin ribbons or films thus obtained to the 
blanching action of air, light, and moisture. For this pur 
pose the ribbons are laid upon long webs of canvas stretched 
horizontally between standards, two feet above the surface of 
a sheltered field, having a free exposure to the sunbeams. 
Here they are frequently turned over, then covered by nets 
to prevent their being blown away by winds, and watered 
from time to time, like linen upon the grass field in the old 
method of bleaching. Whenever the color of the wax seems 
stationary, it is collected, re-melted, and thrown again into 
ribbons upon the wet cylinder, in order to expose new sur- 
faces to the bleaching operation. By several repetitions of 
these processes, if the weather proves favorable, the wax 
becomes quite white. 

Zinc, To Pulverize. — Zinc, though a tough metal at or- 
dinary temperatures, is exceedingly brittle when heated to 
nearly its melting point. To reduce it to powder, therefore, 
the best plan is to pour melted zinc into a dry and warm 
cast-iron mortar, and as soon as it shows signs of solidifying" 
pound it with the pestle. In this way it may be reduced to- 
a very fine powder. 



CATALOGUE 



OF 



Books and Periodicals 

PUBLISHED AND FOE SALE BY 

THE INDUSTRIAL PUBLICATION COMPANY, 

176 Broadway f New York. 

^"Any of these Books may be obtained fro7n any Bookseller 
or Newsdealer, or will be sent Free by mail to any part of the 
United States or Canada ONBECEIPT OFF BICE. 



The Amateur's Handbook of Practical Information^ 

For the Workshop and the Laboratory. Second Edition. 
Greatly Enlarged. Neatly Bound - - 15 cents. 

This is a handy little book, containing Just the information needed 
by Amateurs in the Workshop and Laboratory. Directions for 
making Alloys, Fusible Metals, Cements, Glues, etc. ; and for Solder- 
ing, Brazing, Lacquering, Bronzing, Staining and Polishing Wood, 
Tempering Tools, Cutting and Working Glass, Yarnishing, Silvering, 
Gilding, Preparing Skins, etc., etc. 

The New Edition contains extended directions for preparing Polish- 
ing Powders, Freezing Mixtures, Colored Lights for tableaux. Solu- 
tions for rendering ladies' dresses incombustible, etc. There has also 
been added a very large number of new and valuable receipts. 

Rhymes of Science: Wise and Otherwise. 

By O. W. Holmes, Bret Hart, Ingoldsby, Prof. Forbes, 
Prof, J. W. McQ. Kankine, Hon. E. W. Eaymond, and 
others. 
With Illustrations. Cloth, Gilt Title. - 50 cents. 



Section Cutting. 

A Practical Guide to the Preparation and Mounting of 

Sections for the Microscope ; Special Prominence being 

given to the Subject of Animal Sections. By Sylvester 

Marsh. Keprinted from the London edition. With 

Illustrations. 12mo., Cloth, Gilt Title. - 75 cents. 

This is undoubtedly the most thorough treatise extant upon sectioi 
cutting in all its details. The American edition has been greatly 
enlarged by valuable explanatory notes, and also by extended direc- 
tions, illustrated wTth engravings, for selecting and sharpening 
knives and razors. 

Companion for Cheap Microscopes. 

Intended for those who have absolutely no knowledge of 
the Microscope or how to use it. Price, in Boards, 30^ 
cents. In Cloth, Gilt Title - - - 50 cents. 

This is a very elementary book, giving very simple directions for 
using the Microscope, and for collecting, preparing and mounting- 
objects. 

How to Use the Microscope. 

A Simple and Practical Book, intended for beginners. 
By John Phin, editor of '*The American Journal of 
Microscopy." Second Edition. Greatly Enlarged, with 
50 illustrations in the text and 4 full-page engravings 
printed on heavy tint paper. 12mo., Neatly bound in 
Cloth, Gilt Title. - - . - 75 cents. 

The Microscope. 

By Andrew Boss. Fully Illustrated. 12mo., Clothy 

Gilt Title. 75 cents. 

This is the celebrated article contributed by Andrew Eoss to the 
"Penny Cyclopasdia," and quoted so frequently by writers on the 
Microscope. Carpenter and Hogg, in the last editions of their works 
on the Microscope, and Brooke, in his treatise on Natural Philoso- 
phy, all refer to this article as the best source for full and clear 
information in regard to the principles upon which the modern 
achromatic Microscope is constructed. It should be in the library 
of every person to whom the Microscope is more than a toy. It is 
written in simple language, free from abstruse technicalities. 



Diatoms. 

Practical Directions for Collecting, Preserving, Trans-- 
porting, Preparing and Mounting Diatoms. By Prof. A. 
Mead Edwards, M. D., Prof. Christopher Johnston, M. D., 
Prof. Hamilton L. Smith, LL. D. 
12mo., Cloth. - - - - 75 cents. 

This volume undoubtedly contains the most complete series of. 
directions for Collecting, Preparing and Mounting Diatoms ever 
published. The directions given are the latest and best. 

Common Objects for the Microscope. 

By Eev. J. G. Wood. Upwards of four hundred illus- 
trations, including twelve colored plates by Tuffen West., 
Illuminated Covers. - - - 50 cents. 

This book contains a very complete description of the objects ordi^ 
narily met with, and as the plates are very good, and almost every 
object is figured, it is a most valuable assistant to the young micro- 
scopist. 

Five Hundred and Seven Mechanical Movements. 

Embracing all those which are Most Important in Dy- 
namics, Hydraulics, Hydrostatics, Pneumatics, Steam 
Engines, Mill and Other Gearing, Presses, Horology and 
Miscellaneous Machinery; and including Many Move- 
ments never before published, and several of which have 
only recently come into use. By Henry T. Brown, editor 
of the ^'American Artisan." Eleventh Edition. $1.00. 
This work is a perfect Cyclopaedia of Mechanical Inventions, which 
are here reduced to first principles, and classified so as to be readily 
available. Every mechanic that hopes to be more workman, ought 
to have a copy. 

The Six Days of Creation. 

The Chemical History of the Six Days of Creation. By 
John Phin, C. E., editor of ''The American Journal of 
Microscopy." 12mo., Cloth. - - 75 cents. 

Stories About Horses. 

Just the Book for Boys. With eight full-page engrav- 
ings. In Boards, 25 cents. In Cloth - 50 cents. 



Instruction in the Art of Wood Engraving. 

A Manual of Instruction in the Art of Wood Engraving; 
with a Description of the Necessary Tools and Appar- 
atus, and Concise Directions for their Use ; Explanation 
of the Terms Used, and the Methods Employed for Pro- 
ducing the Various Classes of Wood Engravings. By S. 
. E. Fuller. 

Fully illustrated with Engravings by the author, separ- 
ate sheets of engravings for transfer and practice 
being added. 
New Edition, Neatly Bound. - - 30 cents. 

What to Do in Case of Accident. 

What to Do and How to Do It in Case of Accident. A 
Book for Everybody. 12mo., Cloth, Gilt Title. 50 cents. 
This is one of the most useful books ever published. It tells ex- 
actly what to do in case of accidents, such as Severe Cuts, Sprains, 
Dislocations, Broken Bones, Burns with Fire, Scalds, Burns with 
Corrosive Chemicals, Sunstroke, Suffocation by Foul Air, Hanging, 
DrowniQg, Frost-Bite, Fainting, Stings, Bites, Starvation, Lightning, 
Poisons, Accidents from Machinery, and from the Falling of Scaf- 
folding, Gunshot Wounds, etc., etc. It ought to be in every house, for 
young and old are liable to accident, and the directions given in this 
book might be the means of saving many a valuable life. 

BOUND VOLUMES OF 

The Technologist, or Industrial Monthly. 

The eight volumes of The Technologist, or Industrial 
Monthly, which have been issued, form a Mechanical and Archi- 
tectural Eneyclopsedia of great value; and, when properly bound, 
they form a most important addition to any library. The splendid 
full-page engravings, printed on tinted paper, in the highest style of 
the art, are universally conceded to be the finest architectural and 
mechanical engravings ever published in this country. We have on 
hand a few complete sets, which we offer for $16.00, handsomely and 
uniformly bound in cloth. 

We have also a few extra sets of Vols, m to YHI inclusive. These 
;six volumes we offer for $8.00 bound in cloth. As there are but a very 
few sets remaining, those who desire to secure them should order 
immediately. 

Note.— The above prices do not include postage or express charges, 
'The set weighs altogether too much to be sent by mail. 



Shooting on the Wing. 

Plain Directions for Acquiring the Art of Shooting on 
the Wing. With Useful Hints concerning all that relates 
to Guns and Shooting, and particularly in regard to the 
art of Loading so as to Kill, To which has been added 
several Valuable and hitherto Secret Eecipes, of Great 
Practical Importance to the Sportsman, By an Old 
Gamekeeper. 
12mo., Cloth, Gilt Title. . . - 75 cents. 

The Pistol as a Weapon of Defence^ 

In the House and on the Koad. 

12mo., Cloth. ----- 50 cents. 

This work aims to instruct the peaceable and law-abiding citizens 
In the best means of protecting themselves from the attacks of the 
brutal and tlie lawless, and is the only practical book published on 
this subject. Its contents are as follows : The Pistol as a Weapon of 
Defence.— The Carrying of Fire- Arms.— Different kinds of Pistols in 
Market; How to Choose a Pistol.— Ammunition, different kinds; 
Powder, Caps, Bullets, Copper Cartridges, etc.— Best form of Bullet.— 
How to Load.— Best Charge for Pistols.— How to regulate the 
Charge.— Care of the Pistol; how to Clean it.— How to Handle and 
Carry the Pistol.— How to Learn to Shoot.— Practical use of the 
Pistol ; how to Protect yourself and how to Disable your antagonist. 

Lightning Rods. 

Plain Directions for the Construction and Erection of 
Lightning Eods. By John Phin, C. E., editor of ''The 
Young Scientist," author of ''Chemical History of the 
Six Days of the Creation," etc. Second Edition. En- 
larged and Fully Illustrated. 
12mo., Cloth, Gilt Title. - - - 50 cents. 

This is a simple and practical little work, intended to convey just 
such information as will enable every property owner to decide 
v/hether or not his buildings are thoroughly protected. It is not 
written in the interest of any patent or particular article of manu- 
facture, and by following its directions, any ordinarily skilful me- 
chanic can put up a rod that will afford perfect protection, and that 
will not infringe azxy patent. Every owner of a house or barn ought 
to procure a copy. 



THE AMEEICAN 

JOTJENAL OP MICEOSCOPT. 

Now in its Fourth Year, 

Describes all new improvements in the construction and methods 
of using the Microscope, and gives an account of the discoveries 
made by it. 

It addresses itself to the Naturalist, the Teacher, the Student, the 
Physician, and the general reader, and aims to be simple, practical 
and thorough. 

Illustrations. — No expense is spared in illustrating such subjects 
as demand it. The woodcuts which appear in our columns are by the 
very best artists, and our fnll-page plates have not been excelled by 
any work produced in this^ country. 

jm^ This Journal is not the org'an of any Society ; it is absolutely 
independent of any outside business enterprise, and has never been 
controlled by any professional expert or other interest. 

Gives the Proceedings of all the Microscopical Societies of impor- 
tance. 

Published Monthly at $1.00 per year. 

Yols. I and II, handsomely bound in cloth, with gilt titles, $1.25 
each. Vol. Ill, bound uniformly with Vols. I and II, $1.50. Vols. I, II 
and III, bound, together with tne numbers for 1879 as issued, $4.00. 

m- SPECIMENS FKEE. 

One of the objects which has been steadily held in view by the 
American Jouenal of Miceoscopy since its commencement, has 
been to give to the hardworking student the greatest amount of valu- 
able matter possible for the money, and during the year 1878 we gave 
our readers a volume which, for quantity and quality of matter, is 
the equal of any journal published, and superior to some journals of 
the same class costing many times its subscription price. 

THE TOTTNG SCIENTIST. 

A Practical Journal for Amateurs, 
Devoted to Amateur Arts, Lathes, Scroll Saws, Wood Carving, Boat- 
Building, Microscopes, Telescopes, Modelling in Clay, Drawing, En- 
graving on Wood, Photography, Parlor Science, Legerdemain, Aqua- 
ria, Scientific Experiments, etc., etc. 

SO GGicits a '^rea.r- 

Liberal Premiums and Club Lists. Specimens Free. Four odd 
numbers for 12 cents. 

VOLUME I-BOUND— The first volume of this bright little 
monthly is nov^ complete, and we oifer a few copies bound in cloth, 
with handsome gilt title, for $1.00 each. As some of the numbers are 
now quite scarce, those who desire to secure a complete set would do 
well to make early application. 



THE AMERICAN 

Journal of Microscopy, 

POPULAR SCIENCE. 



PROSPECTUS. 

The object of the Journal op Microscopy is to diffdree a knowledge of the> 
best methods of using the Microscope; of all valuable improvements in the in- 
etriiment and its accessories; of all new metbods of microscopical investigation,, 
and of the most recent results of microscopical research. The Journal does 
not address itself to those who have long pursued certain special lines of re- 
seai;ch, and whose wants can be supplied only by elaborate papers, which, Irom 
their thoroughness, are entitled to be called monographs rather than mere arti- 
cles. It is intended rather to meet the wants of those who use the microscopo" 
for purposes of general study, medical work, class insruction, ar d even amuse- 
ment, and who desire, in addition to the information afforded by text-books, 
such a knowledge of what others are doing as can be derived only from a peri- 
odical. With this object in view, therefore, the publishers propose to make the 
Journal so simple, practical and trustworthy, that it will prove to the advantage 
of every one who uses the microscope at all to take it. 

ILLUSTKATIOSS— The Journal will be freely illustrated by engravings 
representiDg either objects of natural history or apparatus connected with the 
microscope. 

TKANS ACTIONS OF SOCIETIES.— The American Journal of Microsoopt 
is not the organ of any Society, but it gives the proceediiigs of all Societies 
whose officers send us a report. As the Journal is devoted "wholly to Micro- 
scopy, and is in good form and size for binding, no better medium can be had 
for preserving the Fcientific records of any society. Matters of mere business 
routine we are frequently obliged to omit for want of room. 

EXCHANGES. — An important feature of the Journal is the exchange column ^ 
by means of which workers in different parts of the country are enabled, with- 
out expense, except for postage, to exchange slides and materials with each other. 

During the first two years of its existence, the subscription to the American^ 
Journal of Microscopy was only fifty cents per year, but at the request of 
mare than two-thirds ol the subscribers, the size of the Journal Las been 
doubled, and the price raised to 

OIVE DOLliAR PER YEAR. 

Four copies for three dollars. - Those who wish to e«onomize in the directioik 
of periodicals, would do well to examine our clubbing liBt. 

Foreign Subscribers. — The Journal will be sent, postage paid, to any 
country in the Postal Union for $1.24, or 6 shillings sterling per year. English 
postage stamps, American currency or American postage stamps taken in pay- 
ment. In return for a postal order or draft for £1 5s., five copies of the Journal 
will be furnished and mailed to different addresses. Make all drafts and postal 
orders payable to John Phin. 

BACK VOLUMES. — We have on band a few copies of Vols. I and II, bound in 
ha dsome cloth cases, which we offer for $1 25 each. Vols. I and II, bound, and 
the numbers of Vol. Ill, as issued, we offer for $2.50. We can no longer supp y 
complete sets of 1876-7 in sheets. To those who wish to examine the journal, we 
will send ten odd numbers for 25 cents. 

The Journal of Microscopy, from its very nature, is a visitor to the verv 
best families, and its value as an advertising medium has therefore proved to be 
much above that of average periodicals. A few select advertisements will be 
inserted at the rate of 30 cents per line, nonpariel measure, of which twelve 
lines make an inch. Addiess 

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF MICROSCOPY, 

P. 0, Box 4875, New York. 



Just Published. lTol.,12mo. Neatly Bound in Cloth) Gilt Title. Price 75 cents. 

HOW TO USE THE MICROSCOPE. 

A Simple and Practical Book, intended for beginners. 

By JOHN PHIN, 

Editor of " The American Journal of Microscopy.** 

Second Edition. Greatly Enlarged, with 50 illustrations in the text, 

and 4 full-page engravings printed on heavy tint paper. 

o o 3^ "X" nE3 i>r "X" s 5 

What a Microscope is.— Different Kinds of Microscopes.—Simple Mi- 
croscopes. — Hand Magnifiers. — ^Tlie Coddington Lens. — The Stanhope 
Lena.— Raspail's Microscope. — The Excelsior Microscope. — Twenty-five 
cent Microscopes and how to make them. — Penny Microscopes. 

Compound Microscopes.— Different kinds of Objectives. — Non-Achrom- 
atic Objectives.— French Achromatic Objectives— Objectives of the English 
Form.— Immersion Objectives — Focal Lengths corresponding to the num- 
bers employed by Nachet, Hartnack and Gundlach. 

How TO Choose a Microscope.— Microscopes for Special Purposes.— 
Magnifying Power required for different purposes. — How to judge of the 
quality of the different parts of the Microscope. 

Accessory Apparatus.— Stage Forceps, Animalcule Cage, etc. 

Illumination. — Sun Light. — Artificial Light. — Bulls-Eye Condenser. — 
Side Reflector. — The Lieberkuhn. — ^Axial Light. — Oblique Light. — Direct 
Light. ) 

How TO Use the Microscope.— How to Care for the Microscope. 

How TO Collect Objects. — ^Where to find Objects. — What to Look for.— 
How to Capture Them. — Nets. — ^Bottle-Holders.— Spoons. — ^New Form of 
Collecting Bottle.— Aquaria for Microscopic Objects.—Dipping Tubes. 

The Preparation and Examination of Objects. — Cutting Thin Sections 
of Soft Substances.— Sections of Wood and Bone. — Improved Section Cut- 
ter. — Sections of Rock. — Knives. — Scissors.— Needles. — Dissecting Pans 
and Dishes.— Dissecting Mici "Scopes.— Separation of Deposits from 
Liquids.— Preparing whole Insect,?.— Feet, Eyes, Tongues, Wings, etc., of 
Insects.— Use of Chemical Tests.— Liquids for Moistening' Objects. — Re- 
fractive Power of Liquids.— Ct»vers for Keeping out Dust.— Errors in Micro- 
scopical Observations. 

Preservation of Objects.— General Principles. — Recipes for Preserv- 
ative Fluids. — General Rules for Applying them. 

Mounting Objects.— Apparatus and Materials for: Slides, Covers, Cellg, 
Tarn-Table, Cards for Making Cells, Hot-Plate, Lamps, Retort Stand, 
Slide-Holder, Mounting Needles, Cover Forceps, Simple Form of Spring 
Clip, Centering Cards, Gold Size, Black Japan, Brunswick Black, Shellac, 
Bell's Cement, SeaUng Wax Varnish, Colored Shellac, Damar Cement, Mar- 
ine Glue, Liquid Giue, Dextrine.— Mounting Transparent Objects Dry.— 
Mounting in Balsam.— Mounting in Liquids.— Mounting of Whole In- 
sects.— How to Get Rid of Air-Bubbles.— Mounting Opaque Objects, 

Finishing the Slides. 
May be obtained from any Bookseller or News Agent, or will be sent by 
mail, postage paid, on receipt of price. 

THE INDUSTRIAL PUBLICATION COMPANY, 

p. O. Box 4875. 176 Broadway, New York. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



BOOKS AND joy, ^ ^30 0^5 ^^j g 

PUBLISHED AND FOR SA 

JHE INDUSTRIAL PUBLI 

ITO i^ROADlVAY, NEW YORK. 



LimrulHIiL 



THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF MICROSCOPY. A Monthly 
Journal givin,^ an account of all improvements in the microscope, in the 
methods of using it, and of the results obtained. Finely Illustrated, $1.00 
per year. Specimens free. Five back numbers (odd) for 15 cents. 

THE YOUNG SCIENTIST. A Bright Monthly for Boys and Girls. 
Teaches how to make Boats, Kites, Microscopes, Telescopes, etc., and 
how to work with Lathes, Fret Saw3, etc 50 cents a year. Samples free. 
Trial trip (4 months), 15 cents. 

HOW TO USE THE MICROSCOPE: Practical Hints on the Selec- 
tion and Use of the Microscope. Intjoded for Beginners. By John 
Phin, Second Edition ; greatly enlarged with 50 illustrations in the text, 
and 4 full-page engravings 011 heavy tinted paper. i2mo, cloth, gilt. 75c. 

THE MiCROSCOPE. By Andrew Ross. The best work on the 
elementary principles which govern the construction of the Microscope. 
i2mo, cloth, gilt. 75c. 

DIATOMS: Practica.1 Directions for Collecting, Preserving, Trans- 
porting, Preparing, and Mounting Diatoms. By Professors A. Mead 
Edwards, Christopher Johnson, and Hamilton L. Smith. i2mo, cloth, 
gilt. 75c. 

COMMON OBJECTS for the Microscope. By Rev. J. G. Wood. 
400 illustrations, by Tuffer West. lamo, boards. 50c. 

SIX DAYS OF CREATION. By John Phin. i2mo, cloth.' 75c. 

SHOOTING ON THE WING. A simple and practical little work for 
Young Sportsmen, lamo, cloth, gilt. ' 75c. 

THE PiSTOL as a Weapon of Defence in the House and on the Road. 
Thorough and Practcal. The only book published on this subject. 
i2mo, cloth, gilt. 50c. 

LIGHTNING RODS, and How to Construct them._ By John Phin. 
T/ie only hook on this subject that has not been nvritten to advertise 
some patent lightning rod. ii>mo, cloth, gilt. 50c. 

ACCIDENTS : What to Do and How to Do it in Case of Accident. 
Burns, Cuts, Drowning, Poisons, Gunshot Wounds, Broken Bones, etc. 
i2mo, cloth. 50c. 

FIVE HUNDRED AND SEVEN Mechanical Movements. By Henry 
T. Brown. Small 4to, cloth. Fully illustrated. $1.00 

AMATEUR'S HANDBOOK of Practical Information for the Work- 
shop and the Laboratory. i2mo, boards. " ' 15c. 

iisr i^iRESS- 

HOW TO SEE WITH THE MICROSCOPE. A Book speciallv 
adapted to the Wants of Physicians and Naturalists. By Prof J. E. 
Smith. 

COMPANION FOR CHEAP MICROSCOPES. A Book for Begin- 
ners. By John Phin, Editor of the American Journal of Microscopy. 



Any of the above Books ivill be sent bf/ niailf post^-paidf on 
reeei/jt of L*rice* 

—- ^-^— — - . ' ■ • 



